UN officials reiterate calls for peace as polio vaccination campaign in Gaza gets underway
Hundreds of families in Gaza queued up early Sunday to get their children vaccinated against polio, in a campaign designed to prevent a resurgence of the virus blamed on unsanitary conditions.
Speaking to international media on Sunday, Sam Rose, a spokesman for UNRWAThe UN agency for Palestinian refugees said more than 200 teams are administering vaccinations at 25 sites in central Gaza.
A race against time
To stop the polio outbreak in Gaza and stop the spread of the virus around the world, health workers will need to vaccinate at least 90 percent of children in each vaccination campaign.
React At its launch on social media, Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, described the campaign as “a race against time”.
The campaign will be rolled out in phases, each lasting three days, covering three different areas of Gaza. The vaccination coverage will be monitored and analyzed daily, and vaccination campaigns will be extended by one day if necessary.
The campaign is organized by UNRWA, the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Palestinian Ministry of Health – will continue in the coming days, if the temporary ceasefire between Hamas and Israel holds.
Security concerns
UN agencies involved in the operation and senior officials have stressed the importance of maintaining security for health workers and Gaza residents.
“For this to be effective, the parties to the conflict must respect the temporary ceasefire in the region,” Mr. Lazzarini wrote on social media. “For the sake of children across the region, a lasting ceasefire is overdue.” In a parcel“In the end, the best vaccine for these children is peace,” wrote WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
UN Secretary General reacts to hostage death
On the same day the operation was confirmed, news broke of the deaths of six hostages taken by Hamas in an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres reacted to the news by recalling his meeting with the family of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of the hostages reported dead on Sunday. Reports, he wrote in a social media post, was “a painful reminder of the need to unconditionally release all hostages and end the nightmare of war in Gaza”.
