Holly Johnston
The National / August 26, 2024
Health Ministry hopes to vaccinate 640,000 children but warns there is high risk of disease spreading.
Gaza has received the first batch of polio vaccines needed for a mass immunization drive among children, the Health Ministry announced on Sunday evening.
The 1.26 million doses were delivered to the strip through the UN’s children agency, UNICEF, and is stored in a warehouse. Another 365,000 doses are expected in the coming days.
The UN has called for a ceasefire to launch a vaccination campaign after Gaza reported its first case of polio in 25 years, a 10-month old baby who is now paralyzed, earlier this month.
The Health Ministry said it hopes to vaccinate 640,000 children up to 10 years old, who will each be given two doses.
There are two other suspected cases of polio that have been detected, although the majority of cases are asymptomatic.
Symptoms of the disease, which mainly affects children under the age of five, can include fever, vomiting, and stiffness of the limbs, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), while one in 200 patients will be permanently paralyzed.
It has largely been eradicated globally, and remains endemic in only two countries – Afghanistan and Pakistan.
However, medical workers face huge obstacles to vaccinating safely in Gaza as the war continues to rage and the enclave’s already-fragile health and sanitation systems have been pushed to near collapse.
A ceasefire is the “only way” to piece together what remains of Gaza’s health system and its water infrastructure – both key to stopping the spread of the disease, UNICEF told The National last week.
On Friday, the Gaza Health Ministry said a ceasefire was necessary for the vaccination campaign to be successful, and warned that the spread of sewage and a lack of clean water and sanitation, particularly in displacement camps, also needed to be addressed.
The arrival of the vaccines – a rare piece of positive news in Gaza, where more than 40,400 people have now been confirmed killed – comes as patients flee Deir al-Balah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital, putting even more strain on what remains of Gaza’s healthcare system.
The area surrounding the hospital has been declared a military zone, the Health Ministry announced on Sunday night, “causing panic” and prompting many to flee the hospital, currently home to 100 patients, including seven in intensive care.
The facility currently remains open for patients, the ministry added, calling for the site to be protected.
Deir al-Balah is in central Gaza, currently the focus of intense Israeli air strikes and shelling along with the southern city of Khan Younis.
Five people were killed in a strike on a home near a hospital in Gaza city overnight, the official WAFA news agency reported, while attacks were also reported in eastern parts of Khan Younis.
Holly Johnston – Breaking News Reporter
