Polio Vaccination Campaign Begins in Gaza for 640,000 Children

A campaign to vaccinate 640,000 Palestinian children against polio was launched in the Gaza Strip today. Director General of Primary Care at the Ministry of Health in Gaza Dr. Musa Abed said in an exclusive statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA) that 640,000 children under the age of 10 will receive vaccines at 60 medical sites in the Strip, and efforts are underway to establish additional mobile medical sites to ensure that vaccinations reach everyone. He added that more than 95% of the children from one day old to 10 years old are expected to receive the vaccination, noting that a comprehensive plan has been completed to successfully implement this campaign in all governorates and neighborhoods of the Gaza Strip. Abed pointed out that the vaccination campaign is being conducted under the supervision of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and UNRWA. Abed also noted that the Maghazi and Bureij camps in the central part of the Strip are not among the areas classified as safe by the occupation during the humanitarian truce period for vaccination, which begins daily from 6:00 AM until 2:00 PM. The campaign will start in the central governorate from 1 to 4 September 2024, then move to the Khan Younis and Rafah governorates from 5 to 8 September, and finally to the Gaza and North Gaza governorates from 9 to 12 September 2024. In this context, the Government Media Office in Gaza said that the polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip requires an immediate ceasefire, and that the continuation of the genocide poses a real threat to civilians. The Government Media Office emphasized in a statement that the Israeli occupation is responsible for the spread of polio and the occurrence of the first cases in the Gaza Strip, as it created the environment for this dangerous disea Source: Oman News Agency