UNRWA: We face a challenge to provide Gaza children with a second dose against polio

New York - Ma'an - The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said that the coverage rate achieved by the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza reached 90%, and the next challenge is to provide children with the second dose by the end of September. "Rare positive news from Gaza, first round of polio vaccination campaign successfully completed," Lazzarini added in a post on the X platform on Monday. He added: "UNRWA and its partners have vaccinated hundreds of thousands of children, achieving a coverage rate of 90%." Despite the Israeli obstacles that caused delays in providing children with the vaccine, especially in the northern Gaza Strip, Lazzarini stressed that "when there is political will, assistance can be provided without interruption." He pointed out that "the next challenge is to provide children with their second dose of the vaccine at the end of September," stressing that "what people in Gaza urgently need, wherever th ey are, is an immediate ceasefire." Source: Maan News Agency