Polio vaccine rollout begins in Gaza amid intense Israeli attacks

A campaign to inoculate children in Gaza against polio and prevent the spread of the virus has begun, the Health Ministry said on Saturday, as Palestinians in the Hamas-governed enclave and the occupied West Bank reeled from Israel's military attacks.

A small number of children in Gaza received vaccine doses a day before the large-scale rollout and limited pauses in the fighting agreed to by Israel and the UN World Health Organization.

Associated Press journalists saw about 10 children receiving doses at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

“There must be a ceasefire so that the teams can reach everyone targeted by this campaign,” said Dr. Yousef Abu al Rish, Gaza's deputy health minister, describing scenes of sewage running through crowded tent camps. Polio is spread through faecal matter.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office in a statement said “Israel will allow a humanitarian corridor only” and “areas will be established that will be safe for administering the vaccines for a few hours.”

Israel said the vaccination program would continue through September 9 and last eight hours a day.

It will allow health workers to administer vaccines to reach some 640,000 Palestinian children.

Polio outbreak

The vaccination campaign comes after the first polio case in 25 years in Gaza was discovered this month.

Doctors concluded a 10-month-old had been partially paralysed by a mutated strain of the virus after not being vaccinated due to fighting.

Most people who contract the disease do not experience symptoms and those who do usually recover in a week or so. But there is no cure.

“I was terrified and waiting for the vaccination to arrive and for everyone to receive it,” said Amal Shaheen, whose daughter received a dose Saturday.

Healthcare workers in Gaza have warned of the potential for a polio outbreak for months.

Israel's war on Gaza, now in its 330th day, has killed at least 40,691 Palestinians — mostly women and children — and wounded over 94,060 others, a conservative estimate, with over 10,000 believed to be buried under the debris of bombed homes.

The ministry said hospitals received 89 dead on Saturday, including 26 who died in an overnight Israeli bombardment, and 205 wounded — one of the highest daily tallies in months.