Sept. 4 (UPI) — UNICEF on Wednesday said the first phase of a polio vaccination campaign in Gaza that began over the weekend was successful.
The first polio vaccination phase Sept.1-3 used about 513 teams to reach more than 189,000 children under 10 years old, surpassing the initial goal for the first phase.
“The risk of polio spreading within Gaza and even beyond, especially to neighboring countries, remains high,” UNICEF said in a statement. “This week, we began to address it. UNICEF, UNRWA and WHO are working tirelessly to roll out a campaign in Gaza to vaccinate 640,000 children under 10 years of age.”
According to UNICEF, for a quarter of a century there were no polio cases in Gaza, but “from the depths of untreated sewage and rubble, the invisible menace is back.”
One case was confirmed in an 11-month-old.
“After almost a year of families experiencing horrors no man, woman or child should ever have to endure, this week we saw what can be achieved with simply, will,” UNICEF said.
The vaccination effort started Aug. 31 and the projected end date is Sept. 12. The goal is to immunize more than 90% of kids younger than 10 in Gaza.
The next phase will be in Khan Younis Sept. 5-9 and in Gaza City and the northern area of Gaza Sept. 9-12.
An agreement was reached Aug. 29 with Israel to allow the mass polio vaccinations. They are being carried out during humanitarian pauses in the war.
The vaccination campaign is being carried out by the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the United Nations Relief Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
“This must continue,” UNICEF said Wednesday. “Without a polio pause to implement the remaining two phases of the campaign, we will fail to protect the children of Gaza and place other children in the region at risk. We must reach at least 90 per cent vaccination coverage to stop the virus from spreading.”
According to UNICEF, this is one of the most dangerous and difficult vaccination campaigns on the planet. The polio vaccines will not only protect Gaza children but also help prevent the spread of polio to neighboring countries.
“The Gaza Strip is already the most dangerous place in the world to be a child, and even with a polio pause, the vaccination campaign faces grave danger and immeasurable obstacles, including damaged roads and health infrastructure, displaced populations, looting and disrupted supply routes,” UNICEF said.
UNICEF said the children of Gaza have suffered enough and now the stakes of that war “have risen to threatening other children in the region.:
“We cannot fail,” it said.