The first round of an emergency polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip reached around 560,000 children under ten between 1st and 12th September 2024. WHO reported that the campaign delivered novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) to 558,963 children after the identification of circulating variant poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) in July and August 2024. The effort used an “extensive network” of teams, providing vaccinations at selected fixed sites. Mobile and transit teams engaged families living in shelter homes, tents, and camps for the displaced, and community workers raised awareness.
Efforts continue
The initial campaign target was 640,000 children, which WHO suggests may have been an over-estimate in the absence of an accurate survey and population displacement. The campaign used 473 teams, including 230 mobile teams, and 143 vaccination sites in central Gaza. This was followed by 91 fixed sites and 384 mobile teams in southern Gaza. The campaign concluded in northern Gaza, with 127 teams at fixed sites and 104 mobile teams. Each of the three phases was conducted under an “area-specific humanitarian pause” of nine hours daily, agreed to guarantee the safety of communities and health workers and ensure vaccination targets could be achieved.
749 social mobilisers engaged communities, encouraged families to vaccinate their children, and addressed concerns. Trained monitoring teams were deployed during the campaign to oversee the efforts, and a further 65 independent monitors will now cross-check the proportion of children vaccinated in the Gaza Strip to independently assess the level of coverage achieved in this first round. These monitors will need “safe, unimpeded access” to households, markets, transit points, and health facilities to check that children have purple dye on their little fingers, signifying vaccination.
The second round of the campaign is expected to follow in four weeks, providing a second dose of nOPV2. WHO, UNICEF, and UNRWA hope to reach enough children and stop further transmission, calling for another round of humanitarian pauses with “unimpeded access” to children in areas that require special coordination. The organisations highlight the need for a “long-lasting ceasefire” so that families can “begin to heal and rebuild their lives”.
Public engagement
WHO recognises the “traditionally positive health seeking behaviour among the Palestinian people” as critical to the success of the first round. Families reportedly “flocked” to health facilities to ensure that their children received vaccinations. This positive reaction was complemented by an “impactful campaign to raise awareness and mobilise the public”.
Dr Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), commented on the “incredible resilience” of helath and community workers who carried out the campaign at “unprecedented scale and speed under the toughest conditions in Gaza”. Additionally, “swift action” from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, from initial detection to campaign launch, “speaks to the effectiveness of the polio programme”.
“In areas where humanitarian pauses took place, the campaign brought not just vaccines, but moments of calm. As we prepare for the next round in four weeks, we’re hopeful these pauses will hold, because this campaign has clearly shown the world what’s possible when peace is given a chance.”
Jean Gough, UNICEF Special Representative in the State of Palestine emphasised the importance of carrying out the “ambitious campaign…quickly, safely, and effectively”. This will protect children in the Gaza Strip and neighbouring countries from “life-altering poliovirus”.
“The progress made in this first round is encouraging, but the job is far from done. We are poised to finish the task and call on all involved to ensure we can do so in the next round in four weeks’ time, for the sake of children everywhere.”
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