No child in Gaza will be left unvaccinated against polio, Unicef regional director pledges

Second phase of inoculation campaign to reach a total of 640,000 children starts in the south

A child receives a polio vaccination drop in Deir Al Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday. AFP

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No child in Gaza will be left unvaccinated against polio, a senior UN official said, as the second phase of a campaign to inoculate 640,000 in the besieged strip starts in the more challenging south on Thursday.

After three days of the campaign in central areas, almost 187,000 children received the first two doses of a recommended four, Adele Khodr, regional director of UN agency Unicef, told The National in an interview. The next stage will run from Thursday in the south and then move to the north where it is expected to conclude by Sunday.

“Even though the first phase of the campaign is over, we still have a few fixed sites that will remain operational to provide vaccinations for any remaining unvaccinated children,” Ms Khodr said. "We will do special co-ordination to enable the vaccination teams to reach pockets of unvaccinated children."

Gazan parents were “enthusiastic” about their children receiving the jab, helping ensure all those under the age of 10 become fully inoculated, she explained.

Israel agreed last week to pause its bombardment of certain areas for eight hours a day to allow more than 2,700 healthcare workers to immunise Gazan children after Gaza reported its first case of polio in 25 years. The campaign is being run by three UN agencies: Unicef, the World Health Organisation and the UN's Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA.

Ms Khodr stressed that the uptake of the vaccine had been encouraging. Much of Gaza's healthcare system has been left in ruins following 11 months of Israeli bombardment. The UN official said many Gazans felt encouraged that something positive was finally happening in the territory.

“We are still noticing a lot of enthusiasm among the parents to come forward and vaccinate their children, and the mothers and parents with whom we have spoken to are saying that they are really very afraid of polio, because this is a crippling disease,” Ms Khodr emphasised.

If a child is impacted, they can suffer for life. The virus can cause paralysis and death.

“The level of trust in the vaccine, the level of trust in the campaign, is really very high,” she said. “I hope this will be a good step forward [towards] the next round, which is expected to start at the end of September, because you need to have at least 21 days between each vaccination.”

Ms Khodr remained focused on the current operation before turning her attention to the second round later this month. “At present, we want to make sure that this campaign finishes in a positive way, we are going step by step.”

Nine out of 10 Gazans have been forcibly displaced since the war began on October 7. Israel issued 16 eviction orders for civilians across the enclave in August. More than 40,800 people, mostly civilians, have been killed and at least 94,291 injured, according to Gaza's health authorities.

The vaccination campaign is underway despite failure to reach a truce deal between Hamas and Israel. The US on Wednesday said the negotiating process for a ceasefire in Gaza has been “pretty frustrating”, as disagreements continue over the exchange of Palestinian detainees for hostages.