Gaza- Gazan citizen Zakaria Othman feels relieved after his twin grandsons, Aser and Akram (10 months), received the polio vaccine. He says before leaving the UNRWA clinic in Deir al-Balah camp in the central Gaza Strip, “We were waiting for the vaccine to arrive, and I was worried that it would not arrive because Israel prevented it. This is a dangerous epidemic and poses a threat to the health and future of our children.”
The Palestinian grandfather had been displaced from the city of Rafah last May, and is currently staying with some relatives in Deir al-Balah. Speaking to Tel Aviv Tribune Net, he noted that the spread of the skin disease “herpes” that has affected most children in the Gaza Strip has raised his grave concern about the possibility of polio spreading and causing a disaster for the residents of the Strip.
He added, “We are suffering from the siege, the war, and the overcrowding of people, and we are trying to follow healthy methods to protect ourselves and our children. We are still treating our children for skin diseases.”
Accompanied by 7 children, aged between 6 months and 7 years, Omar Abu Saydo went to be vaccinated against polio at the UNRWA clinic. He told Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “I vaccinated my daughters and my sister’s daughters, for fear that they might contract polio and to preserve their health and the health of society.” He added, “Vaccination is necessary, because if there is an epidemic, it will spread here and all over the world.”
In turn, Abu Seedo feared that Israel would obstruct the entry of vaccines into the Strip, expressing his great happiness at their arrival, adding, “May God help us through this ordeal and this war, and thanks to those who provided us with this vaccination.” He continued, “We live in difficult conditions, and any epidemic spreads quickly. Now all the children are suffering from difficult bacterial skin diseases, and we are still treating them, so what if polio spreads?”
Vaccination campaign
Despite hearing rumors that the polio vaccines that arrived in the Strip were unsafe, Hanaa Al-Quraan decided to “trust in God and vaccinate her four children,” she says. “I am afraid that my children will contract the disease, because their immunity is weak, and they all suffer from the skin disease that is currently widespread, and this prompted me to get vaccinated.”
The first phase of polio vaccination was launched today, Sunday, in the central Gaza Strip and will continue for 4 days. It will be followed by the second and third phases, respectively, in the northern Gaza Strip and Khan Yunis in the south. The campaign aims to vaccinate 640,000 children, under the age of ten, throughout the Strip.
Israel had agreed to a humanitarian truce, during which it would stop its attacks for 8 hours during the vaccination process in the area where the vaccine is being taken only, while continuing in other areas.
This comes after the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced last week the registration of the first case of polio in 25 years for a child named Abdul Rahman Abu Al-Jidyan, who is one year old. The polio virus (type 2) was also discovered in 6 samples taken from sewage water in the Gaza Strip last July.
The Ministry of Health, in cooperation with UNRWA and international partner organizations, opened medical vaccination points in the city of Deir al-Balah, the town of al-Zawayda, and the Nuseirat camp, while medical teams were unable to reach the eastern areas of the central Gaza Strip (al-Bureij, al-Maghazi, and eastern Deir al-Balah camps), for fear of being targeted by the occupation army, according to a medical official who spoke to Tel Aviv Tribune Net.
Iman Abu Rabie, an employee at the UNRWA clinic’s child vaccination point, described the turnout of families to take the vaccine as “excellent.” She explained to Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “The turnout of families was tremendous. Children from all target groups reached us, and things are excellent.” She confirmed that they did not face any problems, and that families were well aware of the importance of protecting their children.
What caught the attention of the medical teams was the prevalence of skin diseases among children who were about to receive the vaccine. Abu Rabie said that they feared that they would contract the infection, adding, “100% of the children, or the vast majority of them, suffer from visible skin diseases, and we fear that we will contract the infection while giving them the vaccine.”
Treachery of occupation
Although the first day of the vaccination process went smoothly, with a large turnout from the population, the Director General of Primary Care at the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, Dr. Musa Abed, fears the “treachery of the Israeli occupation,” and tells Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “I hope that there will be no targeting of any of the medical teams, and that these days will pass safely for all the teams.”
He added, “We have a very great fear that the occupation will deliberately target the teams working to administer the vaccine. We are in a very bad situation. The targeting is here and there, and the occupation continues to target hospitals and care centers,” expressing his fear of targeting one of the points where vaccinations are provided or the teams working in it.
Regarding the progress of the vaccination process in its first phase, Abed pointed out that there are many challenges facing them due to the occupation’s measures, the most important of which is the division of the Gaza Strip into isolated areas. He said, “There are truce points, but they do not include the entire central region, such as the areas of Al-Maghazi camp, Al-Bureij camp, and eastern Deir al-Balah, which are within the red zones, and the medical teams were unable to reach the children there.” He stressed that they are waiting for coordination between international institutions and the occupation to move to these areas.
The Health Ministry official praised the extent of citizens’ interest in vaccinating their children, expressing his belief that the ministry will achieve its goal of vaccinating about 90% of children, if things proceed without any disturbances from the occupation.
In the same context, the Director General of the Government Media Office, Ismail Al-Thawabtah, hopes that the vaccination process will proceed according to the plan drawn up by the government authorities in cooperation with international institutions. In his interview with Tel Aviv Tribune Net, he expressed his fear that the occupation army will target the vaccination process, by bombing medical points or vehicles of the Ministry of Health and partner international institutions.
Al-Thawabta added, “There are challenges facing the vaccination process imposed by the occupation, through its rejection of a truce during the vaccination process, and fear of targeting the working crews, and we have expressed these concerns more than once.”
He accused the occupation of causing the spread of polio and other epidemics to the Strip due to the war of extermination it has been waging for about 11 months. He said, “The destruction of sewage networks and the prevention of waste transport vehicles from reaching landfills and their accumulation have led to the spread of epidemics and diseases, including polio.”