On Tuesday, July 23, the World Health Organization representative in the Palestinian Authority, Ayadil Saparbekov, expressed “extreme concern” about polio and other infectious diseases in the Gaza Strip.
There have been no confirmed human cases of polio in Gaza, he said, but six out of seven wastewater samples tested positive for vaccine-derived poliovirus, meaning one or more people who received the polio vaccine had spread the virus into the environment.
Saparbekov was quoted by many media outlets.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry responded to these statements and publications with the following message: “More than 95% of the population of Gaza has been vaccinated against the polio virus. Since the beginning of the war, more than 500,000 vials of the vaccine have arrived in Gaza, which is enough to vaccinate more than 2 million people. Israel is working with international organizations to coordinate the delivery of more vaccines to Gaza.”