The World Health Organization in Gaza said on Tuesday that it had exceeded its targets for the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza after three days of the campaign, explaining that about a quarter of the number of children under the age of ten had received the vaccination.
The campaign, which accelerated after the first case of polio was discovered in Gaza last month, depends on a period of cessation of fighting between Israel and Palestinian resistance factions in specific areas of the Strip for 8 hours daily.
Rick Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, told reporters that the organization had given the vaccine to more than 161,000 children under the age of 10 in the central region during the first two days of the campaign, compared to 150,000 children who were expected to be vaccinated.
This is about a quarter of the number targeted by the campaign to stop the spread of the disease, which can cause paralysis or even death among young children.
“So far, things are going well. These humanitarian pauses are successful so far. We still have 10 days to go,” he added.
He said that medical teams will move to southern Gaza later in the week, aiming to reach about 340,000 children, and will then head to the north of the Strip.
He added that there are some children in southern Gaza who are believed to be outside the area where the truce period was agreed upon, and that negotiations are ongoing to reach them.
The World Health Organization says that the success of the campaign and preventing the spread of polio inside Gaza and across the borders depends on vaccinating at least 90% of the children in the Strip.