GENEVA: The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that “heavy shelling” and “escalating violence” in northern Gaza had forced the postponement of the final stage of childhood polio vaccination.
The required second vaccinations have been completed in south-central Gaza and were due to begin in the north on Wednesday.
But the WHO said it had “had to postpone” plans to vaccinate 119,279 children in northern Gaza with second doses.
Israel launched a major air and ground offensive in northern Gaza this month, vowing to prevent Hamas militants from regrouping in the area.
The U.N. health agency said the vaccination campaign was halted “due to escalating violence, heavy shelling, mass evacuation orders, and the inability to ensure a humanitarian moratorium in large parts of northern Gaza.”
“The current situation, including continued attacks on civilian infrastructure, continues to jeopardize the safety and movement of people in northern Gaza, making it difficult for families to safely take their children for vaccinations and for medical workers to “It makes it impossible for people to carry out their activities,” he added.
Second dose required
The vaccination drive began after the first polio case in 25 years was confirmed in the Gaza Strip.
The war has left most medical facilities and sewage systems in Gaza in ruins.
Poliovirus is usually spread through sewage and contaminated water and is highly contagious.
It can cause deformities and paralysis, primarily affects children under the age of five, and can be fatal.
WHO says at least two oral vaccines are needed to stop transmission of poliovirus, and 90 per cent of children under 10 in the region should be vaccinated. .
Like the first round of vaccinations last month, the second round will be divided into three phases, aided by localized “humanitarian pauses” in the fighting, first in central Gaza, then in the south and finally in the north. It was done.
Each phase was scheduled to take up to four days.
The WHO warns that immunity levels decline if the second dose is administered more than six weeks after the first.
The UN agency said the humanitarian moratorium in the north had been reduced to just Gaza City, meaning many children may not have been able to receive their second dose.
This “severely jeopardizes efforts to stop poliovirus transmission in Gaza,” the newspaper said.
Request for temporary suspension
Approximately 442,855 children under the age of 10 have been vaccinated in south-central Gaza since the second wave of the campaign began on October 14, with a coverage rate of 94%.
Meanwhile, 357,802 children between the ages of 2 and 10 were given vitamin A supplements.
The UN health agency said: “It is essential to stop the polio outbreak as soon as possible, before more children are paralyzed and the poliovirus spreads further.”
“Therefore, it is crucial to accelerate the vaccination campaign in northern Gaza through the implementation of a humanitarian moratorium.”
The war in Gaza began with a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to official Israeli statistics from AFP.
Israeli retaliatory attacks have killed more than 42,700 people in the Gaza Strip, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-controlled area’s health ministry, which the United Nations considers reliable.
WHO announces suspension of polio vaccination in Gaza due to ‘heavy shelling’
