Israel has agreed to temporary ceasefires so that children in the Gaza Strip can be vaccinated against polio. The second round of vaccinations has started successfully.
More than 92,000 children in the Gaza Strip have received the second dose of their polio vaccination. The second round of the vaccination campaign started on Monday without incident, reported the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva.
The WHO is initially active with partner organizations in the central Gaza Strip. As with the first round of vaccinations in September, Israel has agreed to hourly ceasefires so that families can safely go to vaccination stations.
A total of 590,000 children should be reached
The vaccination teams then go to the south and then to the north of the Gaza Strip. In total, more than 590,000 children under the age of ten are expected to receive the second dose for complete protection against the infectious disease.
Polio, also known as infantile paralysis, can spread when many people have to live together in precarious hygienic conditions. Because Israel repeatedly evacuates parts of the city in the fight against the terrorist organization Hamas and houses are destroyed as a result of the fighting, hundreds of thousands of people in the Gaza Strip live in tent cities and emergency shelters.
In the summer, a case of polio was detected in the Gaza Strip for the first time in 25 years. The disease can cause permanent paralysis and death.
Source: Stern
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