Second phase of polio vaccination begins in southern Gaza
A day after the WHO completed the first phase of its polio vaccination campaign in Gaza, with more than 187,000 children below the age of 10 being inoculated, the drive has moved to southern Gaza.
The WHO targets to vaccinate an estimated 340,000 children in the second phase.
Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said the campaign started in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
“Our sources on the ground say large numbers of parents are bringing their children to be vaccinated. Medical teams are moving between tents to distribute vaccinations,” he said.
“However, the main challenge continues to be the untenable security conditions.”
The third and final phase will see the vaccination drive move to northern Gaza on September 9, targeting 150,000 children.
‘Very optimistic’ of vaccination programme in southern Gaza, says WHO
Hamid Jafari, director of polio eradication for the WHO’s eastern Mediterranean region, says there were “intense preparations” for starting the polio vaccination programme in southern Gaza.
“I think the most important aspect of all of this, both in the central zone and in the south, is the adherence to the humanitarian pause. That’s the most important thing that needs to sustain itself,” Jafari told Al Jazeera.
“This is a community that is very health literate, it values vaccination and so the way we saw the community response and the diligence of health workers, community health workers in the central zone, we are very optimistic that this will sustain in the south zone as well,” he said.
Jafari added that the WHO would receive a report by the end of the day if there were any “operational issues”, but the first phase of the vaccination programme has built “confidence both among the communities and the health workers to go forward”.
Israel refusing entry to medical teams amid polio campaign: Gaza officials
The Israeli army is refusing to coordinate the entry of medical teams affiliated with the emergency polio vaccination campaign into some areas, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, as inoculation efforts kicked off in southern Gaza.
“We appeal to all concerned institutions and authorities to intervene urgently to ensure the success of the vaccination campaign by reaching all children wherever they are,” the ministry said in a statement.
CNN has gone dormant again after running out of stories about the dead hostages. Not interested in what's going on in Gaza and the West Bank.
