Health Authorities Launch Mass Polio Vaccination in War-Torn Gaza

On Sunday, Palestinian health authorities and United Nations agencies launched a large-scale polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip, aiming to prevent a potential outbreak amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. The campaign will begin by vaccinating children in central Gaza until Wednesday, before extending to the heavily impacted northern and southern regions. The initial phase of vaccinations started on Saturday, with the goal of immunizing approximately 640,000 children.

To support this effort, Israel has agreed to limited pauses in the conflict to enable the vaccinations, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Hospitals in Deir al-Balah and Nuseirat confirmed that the campaign was underway on Sunday.

The urgency of this campaign was heightened after Gaza reported its first polio case in 25 years—a 10-month-old boy who is now paralyzed in one leg. WHO warns that a single paralysis case suggests there could be hundreds of other infections without visible symptoms.

While most people with polio do not exhibit symptoms and typically recover within a week, the disease has no cure, and paralysis caused by polio is usually irreversible. If the paralysis affects respiratory muscles, the disease can be fatal.

The vaccination campaign faces significant challenges, including ongoing conflict, damaged infrastructure, and overwhelmed hospitals. With about 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents displaced and many living in overcrowded tent camps, the logistics of the campaign are daunting.

WHO announced on Thursday that it had reached an agreement with Israel for temporary pauses in fighting to allow the vaccinations to proceed. Israel stated that the vaccination efforts would continue through September 9, operating for eight hours each day.