The Palestinian Health Ministry on Sunday announced that 69% of the Gaza Strip’s children, aged one day to 10 years, received the first dose of the polio vaccine.
The ministry said in a statement published by the Palestinian News and Info Agency, WAFA, that the children received their first doses after 7 days since the launch of the first round of the vaccination campaign in the governorates of Deir al-Balah, Khan Yunis and surrounding areas.
The campaign has so far administered the vaccine to 441,647 children, as of Saturday evening. This includes 49% females and 51% males.
The vaccination campaign will continue in the governorates of Gaza and North Gaza, read the statement.
It added that the teams of the Palestinian Health Ministry, UNRWA, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF are continuing their efforts in the vaccination campaign despite the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Strip and the significant challenges posed by the current security situation affecting the movement between vaccination centers.
Last month, Palestinian health officials reported the first case of polio in an unvaccinated 10-month-old child in the Gaza city of Deir al-Balah, the first case in 25 years in the coastal enclave that has been engulfed in the Israel-Hamas war since Oct. 7.
His family, who had to be displaced repeatedly due to the war, said that they were never able to vaccinate him, like many children in the Gaza Strip.
