Humanitarian pauses in Gaza pave way for polio vaccinations

UN aid teams have reached a tentative agreement with parties involved in the war in Gaza for humanitarian pauses to allow 640,000 children to be vaccinated amid an outbreak of the virus, the UN World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday.

WHO Representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, said that the two-round vaccination campaign is due to begin this Sunday in central Gaza for three days, then move to the southern and northern areas. A second dose will be administered after four weeks.

“During each round of the campaign, the Palestinian Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the WHO, [the UN Children’s Fund] UNICEF, UNRWA [the UN agency for Palestine refugees] and partners, will provide two drops of novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) to more than 640,000 children under 10 years of age,” Dr Peeperkorn said.

Doses ready to go

The campaign is all set after the delivery of 1.26 million doses of vaccines to Gaza and 500 vaccine carriers. According to the UN health agency, 400,000 additional vaccine doses will arrive in Gaza soon.

Speaking from Gaza, Dr Peeperkorn welcomed a preliminary commitment with the Israeli military to “area-specific humanitarian pauses” during the vaccination campaign.

“We call on all parties to pause fighting to allow children and families to safely access health facilities and community outreach workers to get to children who cannot access health facilities for polio vaccination,” he said.

Without humanitarian pauses, the campaign – a massive task in any setting, let alone after more than 10 months of heavy fighting, mass casualties and displacement - will not be possible, warned the WHO.

The campaign will be rolled out in phases of three days each, starting with central Gaza, followed by southern and finally northern Gaza.

Obstacles to overcome

Vaccinations will be extended by one day wherever necessary to account for upticks in violence, destroyed roads and infrastructure damage - all additional hurdles that could hamper the objective of achieving sufficient vaccine coverage within three days in each area.

At least 90 per cent vaccination coverage during each round of the campaign is needed to stop the outbreak and prevent the international spread of the sometimes-deadly waterborne disease, which can cause lifelong paralysis.

The UN health agency will coordinate with all parties, including the Israeli humanitarian coordination unit, COGAT, to ensure safe access to health facilities for children and families.

“Security is paramount” for more than 2,180 health workers and community outreach workers ready to support the campaign, insisted Dr. Peeperkorn.

Vaccines will be delivered to 392 locations and complemented by some 300 mobile teams – a “not ideal” arrangement - but one that has been agreed “with all the parties, he continued. “We will do our best to reach 90 per cent coverage.”

According to the WHO, routine immunisation has been “very well received” in Gaza and the West Bank historically, with parents eager to bring their children for vaccination. Coverage has been as high as 95 per cent in past years, higher than in many countries.

West Bank operation continues

Amid a fourth day of Israeli military operations in the West Bank, humanitarians voiced concerns about the safety of civilians and aid teams.

Raids by the Israeli Security Forces (ISF) in densely populated Jenin and Tulkarem have reportedly killed at least 15 people.

“Unimpeded accessibility of facilities is crucial for reaching and receiving care, but also to deliver health aid. We call on the infrastructure, ambulances, health workers around hospitals, health facilities to be protected,” stressed Dr. Peeperkorn.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the escalation late Wednesday, calling for an "immediate cessation" of Israeli operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Since the start of the war, 652 Palestinians have also been killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including 150 children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. More than 5,400 people have been injured.