UNRWA vaccinates over 160,000 children in Gaza against polio despite challenging circumstances

Despite the challenging circumstances in Gaza, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) successfully vaccinated more than 160,000 children on the first day of the second phase of its polio vaccination campaign in southern Gaza.

“Thousands of families went to health facilities to receive vaccines from UNRWA medical teams,” the UN agency said on X.

“Over 160,000 children were reached on the first day of the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza southern areas yesterday,” it added.

The UN agency said that it will continue vaccinating “as many children as possible” on Friday.

In a separate statement, UNRWA also said that “UNRWA and partners have vaccinated nearly 355,000 children against polio in Gaza’s middle and southern areas since Sept. 1.

“In the next few days, we’ll continue rolling out the polio vaccination campaign aiming to reach around 640,000 children under 10 with this critical vaccine,” it added.

The vaccination campaign, which began on Thursday, aims to protect children from the resurgence of polio in Gaza.

The first phase vaccinated over 189,000 children in central Gaza, and the current phase will cover southern Gaza, followed by Khan Younis, Gaza City, and northern regions.

The urgency of the campaign was emphasized by the recent confirmation of Gaza’s first polio case in 25 years. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had called for a humanitarian cease-fire to facilitate the vaccination of 640,000 children, which was supported by UNRWA.

On Aug. 16, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a seven-day humanitarian cease-fire to allow the vaccination of 640,000 children – a request that was supported by UNRWA.
Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 Hamas attack despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
Nearly 40,900 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed and over 94,400 others injured, according to local health authorities.