The World Health Organization announced on Thursday that Israel has consented to a series of three-day “humanitarian pauses” in Gaza to enable medical personnel to vaccinate children there against polio.
The agency’s official for Palestinian territories, Rik Peeperkorn, stated, “The way we discussed and agreed, the campaign will start on the first of September, in central Gaza, for three days, and there will be a humanitarian pause during the vaccination.”
Israel vs Gaza conflict continue to be in headlines
Peeperkorn informed reporters that the vaccination campaign will also extend to the southern and northern regions of Gaza, each of which would receive a three-day break. Israel had also promised to grant an extra day if necessary.
The goal of the immunization program is to immunize nearly 640,000 youngsters less than ten.
“We emphasize how crucial it is for all stakeholders to honor the commitments they have made,” WHO deputy director-general Michael Ryan stated before the UN Security Council.
“At least 90 percent of coverage is needed during each round of the campaign in order to stop the outbreak and prevent international spread of polio,” he stated.
He reported that 1.26 million doses of the NoPV2 vaccination had been sent to Gaza and that 400,000 more were on their way.
The oral form of the vaccination involves two drops. In order to finish the immunization, health workers must return in four weeks and give each child two more drops; however, there hasn’t been any public talk about scheduling a second break in the fighting thus far.
Israel’s foreign affairs spokesman, Oren Marmorstein, stated on X that his country “has coordinated a large-scale operation with WHO and UNICEF to vaccinate children in the Gaza Strip against polio.”
According to Hamas, it is in favor of the “UN humanitarian truce.”
It is “critical that this campaign be implemented without delay,” according to Robert Wood, US Deputy Ambassador to the UN.
He asked that Israel “facilitate access for agencies carrying out the vaccination campaign, and for it to ensure periods of calm and refrain from military operations during vaccination campaign periods.”
Following the confirmation of the first case of polio in Gaza in 25 years this month in an unvaccinated 10-month-old baby, the US and the EU have expressed alarm about the situation in Gaza.
The highly contagious poliovirus is primarily transmitted by sewage and polluted water, which is becoming a more frequent issue in Gaza as a result of Israel destroying most of the region’s infrastructure during its conflict with Hamas.
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