Gaza receives fresh 350,000 polio vaccine doses
The Palestinian Ministry of Health says it has received a fresh new shipment of 350,000 polio vaccine doses in Gaza, as the vaccination campaign continues amidst the devastation caused by the ongoing Israeli offensive.
“An additional 350,000 doses of polio vaccines arrived in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday evening and have been stored in refrigerators at the Ministry of Health warehouses in Deir al-Balah,” stated Palestinian Health Minister Majed Abu Ramadan. He emphasized that these measures were coordinated with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Minister Abu Ramadan noted that with the arrival of this “second batch of vaccines to Gaza, the total number of doses received by the Strip is now around 1.6 million, sufficient to vaccinate all children from birth to 10 years old with two doses of the vaccine.”
Recall that the Gaza Ministry of Health confirmed the continuation of the vaccination campaign into its third day, reporting that nearly 159,000 children were vaccinated on the second day in central Gaza.
The first batch of vaccines, totalling 1.26 million doses, was received on August 25, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The vaccination campaign, targeting central Gaza from September 1 to 4, Khan Younis from September 5 to 9, and concluding in Gaza City and the northern regions from September 9 to 12, was urgently initiated following the confirmation of Gaza’s first polio case in 25 years in a 10-month-old child last month.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a seven-day humanitarian cease-fire on August 16 to facilitate the vaccination of 640,000 children, a request supported by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
Despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire, Israel has continued its military operations in Gaza following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7 last year. The ongoing offensive has resulted in over 40,800 Palestinian deaths, predominantly women and children, and nearly 94,300 injuries, according to local health authorities.
