Polio Vaccination Underway in Central Gaza’s Nuseirat Refugee Camp

GAZA – Arabtelegraph – A campaign to vaccinate Palestinian children against poliomyelitis, a severe and potentially deadly infectious disease, began in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

Some 1.2 million polio vaccines have been delivered to central Gaza ahead of the campaign, underway at the primary health care center in the camp.

“Today is the first day of the polio vaccination campaign. The campaign is necessary for children as young as one day old and is absolutely harmless,” a campaign organizer.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said that polio vaccination in the Gaza Strip would take place from September 1-12. It will be carried out in the city of Deir al Balah from September 1-4, in Khan Yunis and Rafah from September 5-8, and in Gaza City and the northern part of the Gaza Strip from September 9-12.

In July, the Gaza Health Ministry declared the enclave a polio epidemic area, citing the months-long fighting as the main reason for the spread of the disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) called for a humanitarian pause in the enclave to allow for vaccination.

Palestinian movement Hamas said it supported the humanitarian pause. Israel confirmed on Saturday that it would open a humanitarian corridor for medical personnel and designate safe areas for administering the vaccines during a short period.