According to the World Health Organization, Israel has signed for a sequence of “humanitarian breaks” with the Gaza Strip in order to vaccinate children against the polio virus.
Some 640 000 children are expected to be targeted in the campaign, which is set to get started on Sunday, WHO’s Rik Peeperkorn said.
It will be done in three distinctive phases for the central, the southern, and the northern parts of the strip. At each of the stages, there would be a ceasefire for three calendar days between 0600 and 1500 hours local time.
It follows comments from UN officials that a 10-month-old baby was partially paralyzed due to the first polio case to hit the Gaza Strip in 25 years.
Around 1. Currently, 26 million doses of the nOPV2 are in Gaza, while 400,000 doses are expected to arrive anytime soon.
The vaccinations will be done by United Nations staff and other health care providers who are within the particular region. More than 2000 health and community outreach personnel have also been oriented on the administration of the vaccine.
Currently, Louise Wateridge, a UN spokeswoman in Gaza, has voiced for a pause of conflict so as to help administer the vaccine safely.
It was unfortunate that it was impossible to inoculate children under a sky full of bombs and strikes—children who are on the run for dear life.
As long as there are military activities in the areas wherein we want to vaccinate children, our vaccination will be impacted,” she continued.
Ms. Wateridge said the children are going to be administered two oral doses this week, and then they will have to come for booster vaccination four weeks later.
The WHO is planning for a 90% vaccination rate across the strip, which is required to interrupt continued transmission of the virus in Gaza.
