UN teams begin second phase of polio vaccination campaign in southern Gaza

Medical workers aim to immunise 340,000 children following successful roll-out in the enclave

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A second phase of polio vaccinations across Gaza began on Thursday, this time aiming to inoculate children under 10 in the south of the enclave, which has been under heavy bombardment by Israel since October.

Workers with the UN and other organisations were heading towards Khan Younis at 7am local time as part of a nine-day mission to vaccinate 640,000 children, Louise Wateridge, an official on the ground with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), told The National. A pause in fighting agreed with Israel began an hour earlier in areas where vaccinations are being carried out and was scheduled to last until 2pm.

More than 187,000 children under the age of 10 have been inoculated in a first phase in central Gaza lasting four days, exceeding a target of 157,000. In the south, the target has been set at 343,000 for the cities of Deir Al Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah. This includes a humanitarian zone in the Al Mawasi area where displaced people are sheltering in tents at a population density of 30,000 people per square kilometre.

There will be 91 teams with health facilities at fixed locations working alongside 400 mobile teams, Jonathan Crickx, a spokesman for the UN's children agency Unicef, told The National from Jerusalem. Under the agreement with Israel, UN agencies will be able to request an additional day for vaccinations on top of three days currently allocated to each part of Gaza – central, south and north.

“It will only be tomorrow or the day after, following close monitoring, that we will be able to evaluate if there is any need for a fourth day,” Mr Crickx said.

The campaign in southern Gaza is scheduled to end on Saturday, he added. The number of children eligible for vaccination in central Gaza was higher than anticipated because large numbers of displaced people had arrived from elsewhere in the territory, Mr Crickx said.

Nine out of 10 people have been displaced in Gaza amid Israeli bombardments and eviction orders. Ms Wateridge shared a video showing scenes of destruction on her journey into southern Gaza on Thursday morning.

“This is the best way to describe the road on the way to Khan Younis,” she told The National, referring to footage showing a gravel road lined with rubble and hollowed out buildings.

High turnout

Gazan Dr Fady Abed is part of a team that travelled from central Gaza to Khan Younis on Thursday as part of the campaign. It was a rough start to the day, he said, especially after bombardment in central Gaza kept him up at night.

"I didn't sleep well. I kept being woken up by artillery targeting, even in the early morning, before we left," the communications officer with US-based NGO MedGlobal told The National after arriving in Khan Younis.

At least four Palestinians were killed in Deir Al Balah during overnight Israeli strikes, Gaza's Ministry of Health said.

Upon arriving, all he could see on the way to the medical point was tents.

"Tents as far as the eye could see - stretching from where I stood to the horizon."

He praised how parents living in such squalid conditions still found the energy to bring their children out to health centres to get them vaccinated.

"Families who had been through so much showed up. Turnout was strong and it shows the resilience of our community - even in the face of such hardship, people are determined to protect their children," he said.

Despite the dangers of arriving in Khan Younis and staying there, head of the vaccination team at the Kuwaiti Centre Dr Salah Al Farah said the first day of the campaign was cause for optimism. "We have vaccinated more than 2,000 children so far and with the continued influx of people, we may exceed 3,000 people by the end of the day," he said.

Sceptical parents

Some parents in Gaza remained sceptical about the safety of the vaccines on offer.

Mother of three, Eman Jouda, whose eldest is six years old and the youngest three, said she's not sure whether she'll get them vaccinated, even though she has seen the Ministry of Health's awareness campaigns that aim to reassure uncertain parents.

“I’ve heard that this vaccine isn’t safe and that the Israeli forces want to kill Gaza’s children by giving them this vaccine," she told The National from Al Mawasi. "Israeli forces are killing our children without a second thought — why would they suddenly care about saving them from this disease now?”

The UN agencies involved are at pains to assure parents that the vaccine is safe. On announcing the campaign in late August, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said this particular vaccine had been in use since 2021 in 40 different countries.

“This vaccine is safe, it is effective, and it offers top quality protection,” he said, adding so far 1.2 billion doses had been used worldwide.

Other parents say vaccinating them is the only way to protect their children.

"I will do anything to keep them safe. I can't be the reason my children are harmed," said Mohammad Salem, who has been waiting for the campaign to start.