Gaza: Polio vaccination drive enters second phase, 354,000 children treated

The polio vaccination drive has now entered its second phase in southern Gaza, with over 354,000 children vaccinated so far, the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) said in a report on Friday.

Medical workers pointed out that while the children were being protected from polio, they were still at risk of being killed and injured by indiscriminate Israeli bombardment, which has so far killed at least 40,939 people.

Doctors working for MAP who visited a vaccination point in Khan Younis said on Thursday that "the number of children we are seeing is absolutely huge".

Other healthcare workers working for the organisation described conditions as "overcrowded".

"It’s extremely hot here, there’s no electricity…but the painful reality is that these kids will be vaccinated in the morning and we as medical teams in the hospital will receive some of these kids as casualties from bombardment and air strikes in the evening," they said.

The staff added that by the morning they were having to turn patients away as there was an insufficient number of vaccines being delivered, while demand remains high.

The vaccination drive has continued amidst heavy Israeli bombardment, as the war on the Strip rages on for its 11th month.

The crippling disease resurfaced in Gaza after 25 years without a case. Israel has been widely held responsible for creating the conditions for the outbreak with its deliberate targeting of Gaza's civilian and health infrastructure.

It only allowed vaccines in when it became apparent the disease could spread beyond the enclave's borders.

Last month, the WHO confirmed that a baby was partially paralysed by the type 2 polio virus, marking the first case of its kind in Gaza in decades. 

"We have seen huge numbers of people who want to get their children vaccinated against polio, and the campaign has so far exceeded its target. However, we have also seen continued Israeli military attacks on the civilian population, including children," Sameer Sah, MAP’s director of programmes said.

According to Sah, the Israeli government suspending medical evacuations from Gaza has also posed a challenge, along with other diseases affecting both children and adults in the Strip which have not been addressed or treated.

On Thursday, a doctor at Gaza’s Nasser Hospital said that just an hour after the polio vaccination delivery finished for a day, they received mass casualties, including a child whose hand was blown off in an Israeli attack.

On the same day, after the vaccines were administered during the brief humanitarian pause, five Palestinians were killed and 15 others wounded in an Israeli strike in Deir Al Balah, which burned the tents of displaced people in the area.

MAP called for an immediate ceasefire, unrestricted humanitarian access for emergency aid and for patients to be able to access medical care.

The vaccination campaign is set to expand to other parts of Gaza in the coming days. 

The next phase of vaccinations will be carried out in Gaza City and the northern regions from 9 to 12 September, with fighting halting for at least eight hours on three consecutive days to facilitate the campaign. 

According to World Health Organisation officials, at least 90 percent of children need to receive two doses, the second administered four weeks after the first, for the campaign to be effective.  

Juliette Touma, Communications Director for UNRWA, has described the vaccination campaign as massive and "one of the most complex in the world".