GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) : Palestinian Health Minister Majed Abu Ramadan announced Friday that a polio vaccination campaign for children under the age of 10 will begin in Gaza on Sunday. According to a statement issued by Ramadan, the campaign will begin on September 1 in the Deir al-Balah district of central Gaza and will continue until September 4. It will then move to Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip from September 5 to 9, before concluding in Gaza City and the northern part of the strip from September 9 to 12.
The minister emphasized that vaccination equipment will be transported between areas as per schedule, and assured that the vaccines are completely safe. He urged Gaza residents to vaccinate their children and ignore any misinformation spread by the Israeli occupation forces. The ministry has released maps and sent text messages to inform Gaza residents about vaccination sites and schedules.
Rik Peeperkorn, representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the occupied Palestinian territories, told a UN briefing on Friday that the polio vaccination campaign will provide two drops of novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) to more than 640,000 children under age 10. Peeperkorn said 1.26 million doses of vaccines and 500 vaccine carriers have been delivered to Gaza, while 400,000 additional vaccine doses will arrive soon.
He noted that over 2,180 health workers and community outreach workers have been trained to provide vaccination and inform communities .