WHO Advances Rapid Polio Vaccination Campaign Amid Gaza Conflict

The World Health Organization (WHO) is ahead of its polio vaccination targets in Gaza, inoculating a quarter of children under 10 in the first three days. The campaign, accelerated after the discovery of a polio case in a Gazan baby, relies on daily pauses in the ongoing conflict.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported significant progress in its polio vaccination campaign in Gaza, meeting and exceeding initial targets by the third day. Around a quarter of children under 10 have been inoculated.

This accelerated campaign follows the identification of the first polio case in a Gazan infant last month. The effort is facilitated by daily eight-hour ceasefires between Israeli forces and Hamas militants.

Rik Peeperkorn, WHO's representative for the Occupied Palestinian territories, highlighted that more than 161,000 children in central Gaza were vaccinated in just two days, surpassing the expected 150,000. The campaign aims to cover 90% of Gazan children to curb the disease's spread.