Children in Gaza offered polio vaccines

A second round of polio vaccines is being offered to children in Gaza – after 560,000 were reached with the first dose in early September. The urgent campaign was launched to prevent the spread of polio following the detection of a virus known as circulating variant poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2).

• Gaza was polio free for 25 years
• Polio vaccine uptake was 99% until conflict escalated
• Polio virus has been detected this summer
• Displacement, disruption of health services and exceptionally difficult living conditions threaten children’s health

The Gaza Strip had been polio-free for 25 years, but cVDPV2 has been detected in six environmental – or wastewater – samples collected in June 2024. There has been one case of confirmed polio in a child who tested positive for circulating variant poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2).

Gaza had a high level of vaccination coverage across the population before the escalation of hostilities in October 2023, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The area is one of the most challenging parts of the world in which to conduct a public health intervention. It is very densely populated, large numbers of people are displaced, living conditions are described by officials as ‘deplorable’, and the conflict in Gaza has disrupted health, water and sanitation systems. Despite this, uptake of the vaccine has exceeded the expectations of international agencies.

‘It has been extremely encouraging to see thousands of children being able to access polio vaccines, with the support of their resilient families and courageous health workers, despite the deplorable conditions they have braved over the last 11 months,’ said Dr Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative for the occupied Palestinian territory. ‘All parties respected the humanitarian pause and we hope to see this positive momentum continue.’

The first phase of the campaign was conducted by 513 teams, consisting of over 2,180 health and community outreach workers. Vaccination was provided at 143 fixed sites, including hospitals, medical points, primary care centres, camps where displaced people are living, key public gathering spaces such as temporary learning spaces, food and water distribution points, and transit routes leading from central towards northern and southern Gaza.

Additionally, mobile teams visited tents and hard to-reach areas to ensure they reached families who were unable to visit fixed sites. The presence of a substantial number of children eligible for vaccination who were unable to reach vaccination sites due to insecurity, necessitated special missions to Al-Maghazi, Al-Bureij and Al-Mussader – areas just outside of the agreed zone for humanitarian pause.

The immunisation campaigns are being conducted by the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MOH), in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and other partners.

Speaking after the first round of vaccinations were administered in early September, Jean Gough, UNICEF Special Representative in the State of Palestine, said the campaign will ‘safely and effectively protect children in the Gaza Strip and neighbouring countries from the life-altering poliovirus’.

‘The progress made in this first round is encouraging, but the job is far from done. We are poised to finish the task and call on all involved to ensure we can do so in the next round, for the sake of children everywhere..’