The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) has formally begun a campaign to mass-vaccinate Palestinian children against polio after the disease reemerged in the war-torn Gaza Strip.
Recently, Gaza reported its first polio case in a quarter century, afflicting a 10-month-old boy whose leg was paralyzed by the disease.
In response, a coalition of local Gaza health authorities and the WHO on Saturday began a campaign that hopes to vaccinate 640,000 children under the age of 10 in Gaza to prevent the disease from spreading.
Those treated will receive the vaccine in two oral doses—one administered during the current round of vaccination and a follow up dose around four weeks later.
The vaccination campaign began following a deal between the WHO and Israel, which agreed to limited pauses in the fighting to allow vaccination centers to operate.
Vaccinations are expected to continue until Sept. 9.
The reemergence of the polio virus, which had been nearly eliminated in the developed world by the end of the 20th century, prompted concerns among experts that there could be as many as hundreds of cases of asymptomatic polio in the region.
Most people infected with the polio virus never show symptoms.
More serious cases of the disease can permanently cripple those infected with it, particularly by paralyzing the legs. At its worst, the virus can attack the respiratory system, preventing breathing and causing death.
There’s also no known cure for the disease, leading to a greater emphasis on prevention.
To that end, Israel has permitted the shipment of around 1.3 million doses of the oral vaccination into the region, with 400,000 more expected later, to be distributed at 160 sites around the region including hospitals, medical centers, and schools.
Ammar Ammar, a spokesperson for the U.N., said that this represents “a first step,” but said that the emphasis remains on brokering a cease-fire between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group.
“There is no alternative to a cease-fire because it’s not only polio that threatens children in Gaza, but also other factors, including malnutrition and the inhuman conditions they are living in,” Ammar said.
The reemergence of the disease comes as Gaza residents face poor conditions brought on by the war that has raged since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Bombings in the region have crippled sanitation infrastructure, leading to sewage running through the Gaza Strip’s increasingly-trash filled streets.
That increases the risk of polio spreading further, as the disease is transmitted via fecal matter.
Ongoing food insecurity for Gaza’s residents can also weaken immune systems, particularly in children.
The discovery kicked off a torrent of protests in Israel, with many groups upping their demands that Israeli leadership agree to a cease-fire deal.
The United States, Qatar, Israel, and Palestinian authorities have been working in backroom negotiations for such a deal for months, though no results have come of the negotiations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that the discovery of the hostages harms the prospect of a deal with Hamas to secure the release of the remaining hostages.
Netanyahu condemned the killings as having been carried out in “cold blood,” writing in a post to X that, “Anyone who kills our captives does not want a deal.”
