UNITED NATIONS, Oct 16 (IPS) – The next round of Gaza’s polio vaccination campaign, a major undertaking for health partners, began on October 14 as continued attacks and tensions undermined health and humanitarian systems.
This Monday, October 14, marked the start of the second round of the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza. This follows the relatively successful first round of vaccinations, which ran from September 1 to 12 and ultimately immunized more than 559,161 children aged ten or younger. The second round of vaccinations will provide an estimated 591,700 children with a crucial second dose of the nOPV2 vaccine.
The United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have called on Israeli authorities to take a humanitarian pause so that immunization efforts can proceed smoothly. However, the continued attacks in the Gaza Strip threaten to hamper aid delivery and endanger the lives of aid workers.
“We cannot vaccinate children under a sky full of bombs. All parties to the conflict must respect agreed humanitarian pauses to enable the rollout of this campaign,” the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Neighborhood said. East (UNRWA).
On Monday, the UN reported airstrikes on a school-turned-shelter in Nuseirat and on the courtyard of a hospital in Deir Al-Balah, setting several tents on fire at the latter. Images and video shared by UNRWA showed aid workers searching through rubble for survivors and removing charred bodies from tents. The attack killed about twenty people and halted vaccination efforts at the school.
“We survived miraculously, the fire spread everywhere, even the tent where we slept burned down. This is just one of many incidents we witnessed in the Gaza Strip last night. These are people who are just hiding. They are just trying to find a place to sleep and find some safety in the Gaza Strip, where there is absolutely none,” said Louise Wateridge, a spokesperson for UNRWA.
Repeated evacuation orders from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have also put pressure on vaccination efforts. Muhannad Hadi, the top UN aid official in the occupied Palestinian territory, confirmed that more than 50,000 people had been displaced from the Jabaliya camp as a result of evacuation orders on October 7, 9 and 12.
According to the World Food Program (WFP), the most difficult areas to vaccinate are the northern regions of Gaza, where food deliveries have been halted since October 1. In addition, further blockades have occurred in southern Gaza, where all checkpoints leading north have been closed. the supply of essential resources stopped.
Despite these numerous access problems, the second round of polio vaccinations is off to a promising start. A statement from UNRWA confirmed that around 93,000 children under the age of 10 have been vaccinated so far. About 43 percent of children reached received the second dose of nOPV2, along with a dose of vitamin A, to maximize overall immunity. Like the first round of this campaign, the second round will consist of three phases, focusing on the northern, southern and central regions of Gaza. Each phase consists of three days and an additional catch-up day.
About 1,000 first responders have been mobilized to assist with vaccination efforts and educational services. In addition, UN assessments are being conducted to determine the extent of needs following Monday’s attacks on Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah. Tents, bedding, clothing, children’s supplies, hygiene kits and food are urgently needed.
WFP distributed the last food supplies in the north, where the hunger crisis has escalated significantly in the past two weeks. Canned food, energy-rich cookies and nutritional supplements have been distributed to IDP camps, bakeries, medical facilities and kitchens. It is unknown how long these funds will last as restrictions on aid in northern Gaza continue to tighten.
IPS UN agency report
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