94,000 children vaccinated in polio campaign in Gaza

The UN-supported third phase of the polio vaccine campaign concluded in the besieged northern Gaza Strip, with 94,000 children vaccinated, but thousands still remain out of reach, according to UN agencies.

Nearly 79 per cent of children in northern Gaza have been vaccinated against polio, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on social media on Monday.

The third phase of the vaccine campaign, which had been postponed since October 23 due to the escalating conflict, resumed from Saturday to Monday during agreed-upon humanitarian pauses, reports Xinhua news agency.

Early Saturday morning, 216 medical teams, supported by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), UNRWA, and partners, deployed across 106 fixed sites in the north.

In addition, more than 200 social mobilisers engaged communities and raised awareness around vaccination efforts, according to UN agencies.

Richard Peeperkorn, a WHO official, said the target was to reach all children in the north with the second and final dose.

“We covered many more children than we expected, but we missed some,” he said at a briefing via video for reporters at UN headquarters on Monday, adding that constant evacuation orders from Israel had recently displaced thousands of people.

The third phase of the campaign in northern Gaza followed the implementation of the first two phases of the second round in central and southern Gaza, which reached nearly 451,200 children, or 96 per cent of the target in these areas, according to the United Nations.