The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) revealed Friday that 160,000 Palestinian children were vaccinated against polio in southern Gaza, on the first day of the campaign in the south.

The UNICEF said in a statement that about 355,000 children have received the vaccination in central and southern Gaza since Sept. 1, noting that the third phase of the campaign is scheduled to begin in the northern Gaza Strip between Sept. 9 and 11.

It noted that the process will be repeated in a few weeks to implement the second round of the large-scale vaccination campaign to protect more than 640,000 children under the age of 10 in Gaza.

For its part, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that more than 500 vaccination teams are now deployed in southern Gaza, including 380 mobile teams, warning of the worsening health crisis in Gaza as a result of limited access to clean water and sanitation services, in addition to the scarcity of affordable hygiene materials.

In a relat
ed context, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, said in statements that four major medical facilities in central Gaza will continue to administer the vaccine in the coming days to ensure that all children are vaccinated, noting that the medical evacuation of patients and the injured out of the Strip has been largely suspended since the closure of the Rafah crossing four months ago, especially since there are about 12,000 patients waiting to leave to receive the medical care they desperately need.

The program of vaccinating Palestinian children in southern Gaza against polio was launched Thursday, in the hope of saving hundreds of thousands of children affected by the war, and from the shortage of necessary medicines and vaccines. (QNA)

Source: Qatar News Agency