Amid vaccination drive, WHO says peace best vaccine for Gaza children
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WHO's chief highlights that while Gaza’s children are receiving essential polio vaccines, lasting peace remains the ultimate solution for their well-being.
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A Palestinian child in Gaza receives much-needed polio vaccines on September 1, 2024, amid the Israeli genocide in Gaza. (UN)
The Chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared that the “best vaccine” for Gaza's children is “peace", coinciding with the launch of a polio vaccination campaign, Anadolu Agency reported.
“Children in Gaza are receiving much-needed polio vaccines today. Ultimately, the best vaccine for these children is peace,” Ghebreyesus said on X.
Children in #Gaza are receiving much-needed #polio vaccines today.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) September 1, 2024
Ultimately, the best vaccine for these children is peace. pic.twitter.com/yD1AIoXvpF
This comes shortly after a campaign to vaccinate children in Gaza against polio and curb the spread of the virus commenced, amid the continued Israeli genocide against Palestinians.
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Gaza's Health Ministry announced at a news conference on Saturday that children in the Strip had begun receiving vaccines, just one day before the large-scale rollout and a planned temporary pause in fighting agreed upon by "Israel" and the UN World Health Organization (WHO).
An unspecified number of children received their first dose of the vaccine at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. The vaccination, which consists of two oral doses, will be administered across the Strip.
Following its start in central Gaza, the campaign will extend to southern and northern Gaza to vaccinate over 640,000 children under the age of 10, according to health officials.
WHO Deputy Director-General Michael Ryan informed the UN Security Council this week that 1.26 million doses of the oral vaccine had been delivered to Gaza, with an additional 400,000 doses expected to arrive shortly.
While the Israeli occupation authorities indicated that vaccines would be given daily from 6:00 am (0300 GMT) until 2:00 pm for three days in central Gaza, three days in southern Gaza, and three days in northern Gaza, the Gaza Health Ministry distributed a different schedule, with the vaccine program lasting four days in each location.
The ministry identified 67 vaccination centers – mostly hospitals, smaller health centers, and schools – in central Gaza, 59 in southern Gaza, and 33 in northern Gaza.
The Gaza Government Media Office underlined on Saturday that the vaccination campaign required an "immediate ceasefire".
But Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said measures to facilitate polio vaccination in Gaza are "not a ceasefire."
Earlier, the Health Ministry reported that hospitals received the bodies of 89 people, including 26 who were killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes, with an additional 205 individuals wounded—one of the highest daily tolls in months.
Officials indicated that the pause, expected to last at least nine hours, is a result of an agreement with the WHO and is not related to ongoing ceasefire negotiations between "Israel", Hamas, and regional mediators.
This vaccination campaign follows the recent discovery of the first polio case in 25 years, involving a 10-month-old child who was partially paralyzed by a mutated strain of the virus after not receiving the vaccine due to the ongoing war.
