Israel consented to a sequence of pauses in fighting in Gaza in September to let young children in the enclave be polio vaccinated, United Nations and Israeli officials said.
The goal of the polio campaign is to vaccinate approximately 640,000 children in Gaza, following the discovery of a highly infectious virus in sewage samples in the Strip in June.
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) representative for the West Bank and Gaza, Rik Peeperkorn, told a press briefing via video link Thursday that the pause would begin September 1 and be divided into three 3-day phases.
The return of polio to Gaza is indicative of the devastation caused by over ten months of Israeli bombing. World Health Organization statistics show that the enclave’s polio vaccine coverage fell below 90% at the beginning of this year, down from an estimated 99% in 2022. If nothing is done, the epidemic will continue to spread with less than 90% coverage, according to Peeperkorn.
As aid agencies have reported Israeli attacks on their convoys, the vaccination drive has been started.
