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Israel preliminarily agrees to ‘humanitarian pauses’ for Gaza polio vaccinations
The World Health Organization (WHO) has “a preliminary commitment for area specific humanitarian pauses” in fighting in the Gaza Strip to allow for a polio vaccination campaign to be carried out, a senior WHO official has announced.
The United Nations is preparing to vaccinate an estimated 640,000 children in Gaza, where the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed on August 23 that at least one baby has been paralysed by the type 2 polio virus, the first such case in the territory in 25 years.
On July 30, the Health Ministry in Gaza declared the Palestinian territory to be a “polio epidemic zone”, blaming the reappearance of the virus on Israel’s 10-month military offensive and the resulting destruction of health facilities.
WHO says Israel agrees to 3 days of pause in fighting for polio campaign in Gaza
The UN’s health agency says Israel has agreed to at least three days of “humanitarian pauses” in Gaza to allow UN health officials to administer polio vaccinations in the territory. That means that the humanitarian pauses could potentially continue after the three days.
WHO says that the agreement is for pauses for nine hours a day, between 6am and 3pm local time.
“The way we discussed and agreed, the campaign will start on the first of September, in central Gaza, for three days, and there will be a humanitarian pause during the vaccination,” said Rik Peeperkorn, the agency’s representative for Palestinian territory.
Israel gives in to polio vaccination pressure amid concerns of spread
The polio vaccination campaign in Gaza came about after intense pressure from UN officials and the US with Secretary of State Antony Blinken reportedly appealing to Israel.
There are also warnings that the virus could spread to Israel amid expectations that it will spread rapidly through Gaza given the lack of sanitation and the disruptions in medical care and vaccinations that have happened there.
What is happening is that the vaccines will be rolled out on September 1 over a three-day period.
UN officials say they’ve been given assurances by Israeli authorities that if they do not accomplish as many shots as they need in those three days, they’ll be given an extra day [where necessary].
The UN has more than 2,000 workers ready to go to make this happen.
Israel agrees to pauses – but doesn’t want a ceasefire
Analyst Mohamad Elmasry says the news that Israel has agreed to humanitarian pauses to allow the administration of polio vaccines is “welcome”, but he emphasises the need for a sustainable ceasefire.
“What about all the other Gazans who are suffering from myriad conditions now, with people quite literally starving. Why not a larger, more sustainable ceasefire?” Elmasry, a professor of media studies at the Doha Institute of Graduate Studies, asked.
“The answer to that question is obvious, and that’s because Israel doesn’t want a ceasefire. They’ve made that clear … that they want more or less indefinite war in Gaza.”
Moreover, Elmasry told Al Jazeera, implementing the polio vaccinations will be “quite scary” for aid workers as well as regular residents.
“If you listen to the Palestinians on the ground, … they’re saying they’re terrified of being displaced because time and time again – it’s been documented – Israel orders the Palestinians to go to a particular location. They declare it a safe zone, and then they bomb it,” he added.
“My guess is Palestinians will be scared to even go [to] vaccinate their children.”
Logistics of polio campaign in Gaza likely to be ‘complex’
Mukesh Kapila, a doctor who was formerly a United Nations staffer, says the three-day pause agreed to by Israel is unlikely to be long enough to administer the polio vaccine to all those in need in Gaza.
“Let’s not underestimate the complex logistics here. Almost certainly, three days are not going to be enough,” Kapila, professor emeritus at the University of Manchester, told Al Jazeera.
“I don’t know whether we can build on this and that they can do some other immunisations as well … but of course, that might be a prayer and a wish too far.” Kapila said it was “extremely important” to win the trust of the people in Gaza for them to “bring their children forward” to get vaccinated.
“Many of them will be afraid. Many of them will not trust what’s going on because they’ve already been bombed despite being assured of their safety,” he added. “That’s why I hope very much that people are not fixated with the three-day period, but they allow a decent amount of time to get the job done.”
How long did it take to vaccinate against Covid-19... Not 3 days.
Humanitarian pauses for vaccinations will only be in specific areas, and not across the whole of Gaza
WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris says teams on the ground will need the next 48 hours to ensure all logistics are in place. “Waiting is something we don’t want anybody to do, but we want to be sure that everything’s in place,” she told Al Jazeera.
“One of the critical things is this preliminary commitment to area-specific humanitarian pauses. This means that the pauses will only happen in certain places at certain times. We have to ensure that the vaccinators can move around in safety and that parents and children can reach the vaccination points in safety.”
Harris said the situation in Gaza was a “perfect storm” for enabling the poliovirus to “spread like wildfire”. “You’ve got no clean water, you’ve got poor sanitation, you’ve got overcrowding,” she added.
