The third phase of the polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza will be restarted on November 2, 2024, after the campaign was initially scheduled to commence on October 23 but was unable to do so because of the ongoing war. Factors such as heavy shelling, many people leaving, and no access were instrumental in the organization’s inability to safely mobilize any vaccination efforts or even calls for fathers and mothers to bring their children for the vaccination.
A humanitarian ceasefire has been obtained in order to allow the vaccination campaign to go ahead, although the extent of the area covered has been considerably diminished. This is in contrast to the first round of the campaign in which all areas of gazette were included including parts like Kakuma, but this time the campaign is restricted to Kamukunji in Nairobi. In the last few weeks approximately 100,000 people from the northern part of Gaza have been moved to the safety of Gaza City. However, there still exist hard to reach areas like Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun where nearly 15,000 children aged below ten stay, meaning they will not take part in the vaccination campaign. This is a serious setback in the attainment of the objective to vaccinate at least 90% of every population unit to enable cessation of polio cases.
Given the estimated restraining factors, the campaign that seeks to administer a second dose of the novel oral polio vaccine (nOPV2) to about 119,000 children in the northern region of Gaza is likely to miss its initial target. Notwithstanding, it was resolved by Polio Technical Committee for Gaza, which consists of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, WHO, UNICEF, and UNRWA, to go ahead with the campaign, in order to avoid prolonged delays and also to reach out to the children who have been displaced to Gaza City recently.
216 teams will facilitate the campaign through 106 fixed vaccination sites and some other areas to take care of the internal displaced people. Social mobilizers will encourage the people to take part and create awareness. As in previous phases, children aged 2-10 will also receive vitamin A to enhance resistance. The interruptions in the fighting are expected to last every day from 6:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
The campaign comes after successfully vaccinating more than 451,000 children in the central and southern areas of Gaza, reaching approximately 96% of the targeted population. WHO and UNICEF are still calling on all parties involved to adhere to the granted humanitarian pause so that the vaccination campaigns that are very vital in controlling polio within and outside of Gaza are not undermined.
