According to Israel and the UN children’s fund Unicef, the mass vaccination against polio in the Gaza Strip was completed after just over two months. A total of around 1.1 million vaccine doses were administered in the contested coastal strip, said the Israeli military authority for Palestinian affairs Cogat. This means that 556,774 children would have received two doses of vaccine each, emphasized Unicef. The first round of vaccinations began on September 1st, and the necessary second dose was administered from mid-October. This means that the vaccination rate of more than 90 percent of children necessary for effective protection against the spread of the virus has been achieved, said Cogat.
However, Unicef pointed out that this was an average value. In the northern Gaza Strip, where the vaccination campaign was affected by the heavy fighting between the Israeli army and the Islamist Hamas, the vaccination rate is only around 88 percent. An estimated 7,000 to 10,000 children in inaccessible areas such as Jabaliya, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanun are still not vaccinated and are therefore vulnerable to the polio virus. This also increases the risk of the polio virus spreading further in the Gaza Strip and neighboring countries.
The vaccinations were carried out by local health authorities, Unicef and the UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA. Cogat emphasized that it had provided logistical support together with the Israeli army. Israel and UN organizers agreed to short, localized humanitarian ceasefires for vaccinations in different parts of the Gaza Strip.
The vaccination campaign is intended to prevent the virus from spreading. Polio, also known as polio, can cause lifelong paralysis. The first case of polio in 25 years was discovered in the Palestinian territory in August. The virus spreads when unsanitary conditions prevail. Hundreds of thousands of people have been on the run there since Israel’s military operations began last fall. Israel was reacting to the devastating terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023.