The World Health Organization announced on Wednesday the launch of a new polio vaccination campaign on February 22 in Gaza, where the virus is still present and pose a threat to children.
The organization said in a statement that the campaign, which is scheduled to continue until February 26, aims to vaccinate more than 591 thousand children under the age of ten.
The Director General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanum Guerberesus, said on the X platform that this campaign “comes after recently found the polio virus in sanitation water samples, which means that it is in the environment, and children endanger.”
The first vaccination campaign was implemented in September and October last after confirming the first polio injury in 25 years in the Gaza Strip, which was destroyed by the Israeli aggression since October 20, 2023.
This campaign, which was allowed by a temporary humanitarian stop for fighting, has achieved more than 95% of its goal, according to the World Health Organization.
The organization said that “no additional polio cases have been reported since a 10 -month -old child was paralyzed in August 2024.”
“But new environmental samples were taken in Deir Al -Balah and Khan Yunis, in December 2024 and January 2025, confirming the presence of a transition to the polio virus,” she said, explaining that the discovered strain “is genetically linked to the discovered polio virus in the Gaza Strip in July /July 2024.
The World Health Organization confirms that polio vaccines are “safe” and that there are no maximum times that the child can be vaccinated, as “every dose provides additional protection necessary during the outbreak of the disease.”
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The vaccination campaign that begins on Saturday aims to reach all ten children in Gaza, among them who were not vaccinated in September and October last, in order to bridge the gaps in immunity and “end the epidemic”, according to the World Health Organization that hopes to improve the possibility Access to some areas thanks to the ceasefire that entered into force on January 19.
As was the case last year, during this campaign, children will receive a dose of type 2 oral polio vaccine, with the support of the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).
The World Health Organization plans for an additional vaccination tour in April.