Israel has agreed to three “humanitarian pauses” in the war on Gaza to allow the administration of polio vaccines in the Gaza strip, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday, August 29. Each pause will be three-days long.
The decision follows the diagnosis of a 10-month-old child with polio on Friday August 23, the first case in Gaza in over 25 years. The infant’s lower left leg was paralyzed as a result.
The WHO plans to vaccinate around 640,000 children under age 10.
The World Health Organization’s Plan
Starting on Sunday September 1, vaccinations will be administered by United Nations (UN) staff and over 2,000 local healthcare workers.
Gaza will be split up into three regions. Vaccination will begin in Gaza’s center, then move downwards to southern Gaza before finishing at northern Gaza.
The fighting will be paused in each area for three consecutive days from 6am to 3pm local time to facilitate vaccinations, with potential for a fourth day if 95 percent vaccination coverage is not achieved.
Polio vaccines work by temporarily giving the recipient a weakened version of the virus to develop immune system resistance. WHO aims to administer a new version of the oral vaccine which will prevent the possibility of vaccinated children passing on the virus to unvaccinated Gazans. A second dose of the vaccine will need to be administered in late September.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted that the pause is “not a ceasefire”.
Hamas representative Basem Naim told Reuters that Hamas will cooperate with the campaign.
The Polio Virus
The polio virus is a highly infectious disease, principally spreading through contact with infected faecal matter or contaminated food and water. It principally affects children under the age of 10, but can also spread to adults.
Polio attacks the nervous system, potentially leading to spinal or respiratory paralysis, which can be fatal.
The World Health Assembly initiated a widespread vaccination campaign in 1988 to eliminate the disease. Since 1988, the number of reported cases of polio have been reduced by over 99 percent. Now, polio only consistently emerges in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Catherine Russel, the Executive Director of UNICEF, stated that the re-emergence of the polio virus after 25 years is “another sobering reminder of how chaotic, desperate and dangerous the situation has become”.
The latest war on Gaza started following the October 7 Hamas attacks, which saw 1,200 Israelis killed and 250 hostages kidnapped. Since then, Israel has occupied and striked Gaza repeatedly to eradicate Hamas. Currently, the Palestinian death toll stands at over 40,000, many of whom are children.
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