New shipment of polio vaccines arrives in Gaza: Palestinian Health Ministry

By Awad Rajoob

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced late Tuesday that a new shipment of polio vaccines totaling 350,000 doses had arrived in Gaza.

It came as the vaccination campaign in the enclave continued amid a devastating Israeli war.

“An additional 350,000 doses of polio vaccines arrived in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday evening and have been stored in refrigerators at the Ministry of Health warehouses in Deir al-Balah,” Palestinian Health Minister Majed Abu Ramadan said in a statement.

He said these measures were coordinated with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).

He added that with the arrival of “the second batch of vaccines to Gaza, the total number of doses received by the Strip is now around 1.6 million, sufficient to vaccinate all children from birth to 10 years old with two doses of the vaccine.”

Earlier on Tuesday, the Gaza Ministry of Health announced the continuation of the vaccination campaign into its third day, confirming that nearly 159,000 children were vaccinated on the second day of the campaign in central Gaza.

On Aug. 25, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the arrival of the first batch of vaccines, totaling 1.26 million doses.

The campaign focuses on central Gaza from Sept. 1 to 4, followed by Khan Younis from Sept. 5 to 9, and will conclude in Gaza City and the northern regions from Sept. 9 to 12, according to official sources.

The urgency of the campaign was underscored by the confirmation of Gaza’s first polio case in 25 years in a 10-month-old child last month.

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 the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza following an attack on Oct. 7 last year by the Palestinian group Hamas, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

The onslaught has resulted in more than 40,800 Palestinian deaths, mostly women and children, and nearly 94,300 injuries, according to local health authorities.

An ongoing blockade of Gaza has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, leaving much of the region in ruins.

Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered a halt to military operations in the southern Gazan city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge before the area was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio