Gaza Health Ministry receives over 1 million polio vaccine doses

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Gaza’s Health Ministry announced late Sunday that it received 1.26 million doses of polio vaccine.

"A total of 1.26 million doses of the OPV2 polio vaccine have arrived, along with 500 vaccine coolers,” the ministry said in a statement.

"Preparations are underway to launch the (vaccine) campaign in coordination with partners,” the ministry added, without elaborating.

On Aug. 16, the ministry announced the first confirmed case of polio in the Gaza Strip in 25 years, in the city of Deir al-Balah. The case involved a 10-month-old baby who had not received any doses of the polio vaccine.

The disease primarily affects children under the age of five, with one in 200 infections leading to irreversible paralysis. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), between 5% and 10% of those paralyzed die due to the failure of their respiratory muscles to function.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last Oct. 7, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

The onslaught has resulted in over 40,400 Palestinian deaths, mostly women and children, and over 93,000 injuries, according to local health authorities.

An ongoing blockade of Gaza has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, leaving much of the region in ruins.

Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered a halt to military operations in the southern city of Rafah, where over one million Palestinians had sought refuge before the area was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala in Istanbul