The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that 547,848 children under the age of 10 have been vaccinated since the launch of the new round of the polio immunization campaign in the Gaza Strip on Feb. 22, representing more than 92% of the total targeted children, of a total 591,000 children.During the bi-weekly press conference of the United Nations agencies in Geneva, WHO Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory Dr. Rik Peeperkorn explained that this campaign comes within the framework of efforts to stop the spread of the polio virus, after environmental samples collected from Deir Al-Balah and Khan Yunis in Dec. 2024 and Jan. 2025 proved the presence of the virus.The UN official explained that the two previous vaccination campaigns, which were conducted in Sept. and Oct. 2024, were able to immunize more than 95% of the targeted children, but the vaccination teams faced great difficulties in reaching some areas, especially in the center, north and south of Gaza, due to security restrictions and military operations.He pointed out that about 7,000 children in the Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun areas were unable to receive vaccination during the second round in 2024, due to the absence of humanitarian truces, which led to the continued existence of areas with insufficient immune coverage, allowing the virus to spread. However, Dr. Peeperkorn stressed that the recent ceasefire provided health workers with much better access, which increases the chances of success of the current campaign to immunize all children.Dr. Peeperkorn also emphasized that sustainable peace is essential not only for the polio eradication campaign, but also to ensure that vaccines against various other preventable diseases are available, and to enable all children to build strong immunity against diseases.Regarding the general health situation in the Gaza Strip, the WHO representative reported that medical evacuations are ongoing, with 889 patients, including 335 children, evacuated through the Rafah crossing between Feb. 1-24, bringing the total number of patients evacuated since Oct. 2023 to 6,295, including 4,640 children.He pointed to the urgent need to expand medical evacuation corridors, as the number of people in need of urgent evacuation is estimated at between 12,000-14,000 people.The health sector in Gaza has incurred total losses estimated at about USD 6.3 billion due to the massive destruction of the health infrastructure, and the loss of medical human resources, including workers who were killed, injured or forcibly displaced.Dr. Peeperkorn stressed that productivity in the health sector has declined sharply, with the loss of more than 1,700 health workers, causing economic losses estimated at about USD 2.7 billion.The UN official stressed that the health situation in the Gaza Strip remains critical, calling for strengthening the humanitarian response and ensuring the continuation of vaccination campaigns and health services, stressing the need to support the urgent reconstruction of the health sector in Gaza. (
