More than 550,000 children in Gaza have received their first dose of the polio vaccine, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which announced the milestone on Thursday.
Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO’s representative for the West Bank and Gaza, highlighted the rapid progress made during a media briefing. “We reached an enormous amount of children in this short time,” he stated.
As of now, 552,451 children have received the oral polio vaccine during brief humanitarian pauses in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. The vaccination campaign continued on Thursday, marking the final day of the initiative.
Peeperkorn acknowledged the challenges of maintaining accurate records in Gaza, where many families have been displaced. However, he expressed confidence that the vaccination team had met its target of immunizing at least 90% of children under the age of 10.
He praised parents for their proactive efforts in seeking vaccinations for their children. “Everywhere the team has gone, parents are doing all they can to ensure their child does not miss vaccination,” Peeperkorn noted.
The vaccination sites have become beacons of hope for families in Gaza, who have endured months of war trauma coupled with a severe lack of food, clean water, and proper sanitation. “The children came out very well-dressed,” Peeperkorn observed, adding that many were “joyful on the streets, which hasn’t been the case for the last 11 months.”
Chessa Latifi, deputy director of emergency response for the NGO Project HOPE, reported that the turnout at vaccine clinics exceeded expectations, despite initial concerns about reaching enough children. “Communities took these warnings seriously,” she said, noting that Project HOPE has vaccinated over 2,000 children against polio.
Another NGO, MedGlobal, has administered approximately 5,000 doses of the polio vaccine in Gaza. Dr. Zaher Sahloul, MedGlobal’s president, emphasized the determination of families to prioritize their children’s health. “When you’re living in tents, and you don’t have access to schools, you don’t have access to proper media, you don’t have access to clinics, and then you come out despite the war and the threat on your lives to vaccinate, it means that families really care about the health of their children and their communities,” he stated.
The urgent push for vaccination began after the discovery of the poliovirus in wastewater samples taken from two sites in Gaza over the summer. The strain identified is linked to a polio vaccine that has not been used in the U.S. since 2000 but remains in use in other parts of the world. This oral vaccine employs a weakened but live form of the poliovirus.
Polio is highly contagious and is primarily transmitted through an infected person’s stool. The deteriorating sanitation conditions in Gaza render the area particularly vulnerable to outbreaks.
Concerns intensified last month when a 10-month-old baby in Deir al-Balah was diagnosed with polio, marking the first recorded case of the virus in the Gaza Strip in at least 25 years. Test results for three other children in Gaza exhibiting “acute flaccid paralysis,” a condition associated with the poliovirus, are pending.
Even if severe cases are limited, it is likely that thousands more have been infected without showing symptoms. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), for each confirmed case of polio, there can be anywhere from 200 to 1,900 mild or asymptomatic cases.
A second dose of the vaccine will be required in four weeks. Latifi expressed caution regarding the sustainability of vaccination efforts, stating, “There’s always a chance that these people are not going to be able to return, which then renders the vaccine much less effective. We’re really hoping that the continued displacement is somewhat limited over the next month.”
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