Baby in Gaza partially paralyzed by polio, first case in area in 25 years

A Palestinian baby in Gaza has been partially paralyzed by polio, the first case there in 25 years. The baby was struck during preparations for a difficult and dangerous vaccination campaign in the midst of the war.

World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed that the stricken baby had lost movement in his lower left leg but was in stable condition.

More than 1.6 million doses of the vaccine against poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2), the variant of the disease in question, are expected to be delivered to Gaza for a two-round vaccination campaign, with the first round starting on August 31 and the second in late September or early October.

According to UNICEF, the UN children’s agency, the refrigeration equipment needed to keep the vaccine at the right temperature (2-8 degrees Celsius) was brought into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom gate on Friday.

John Crickx, UNICEF spokesperson in the region, said the aim was to vaccinate more than 640,000 children under the age of 10 against poliovirus type 2 in both rounds of the campaign.

“To make the vaccination coverage sufficient, 95% of the children must receive the two doses of vaccines,” Crickx said. The vaccine vials are expected to arrive by plane to Tel Aviv in the coming days and then be driven to the Gaza Strip via Kerem Shalom. They will be stored in a cold store in Deir el-Balah, halfway to the Gaza Strip.

The UN is calling on Israel and Hamas for a humanitarian ceasefire to allow humanitarian workers to carry out the vaccination campaign.

“Polio will not discriminate between Palestinian and Israeli children,” said Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN relief agency UNRWA. “Delaying a humanitarian pause will increase the risk of its spread among children.”

Hamas has said it supports a humanitarian ceasefire. Israel has not committed to such a pause but has said it will “facilitate” the vaccination campaign.

“It is important to understand that you cannot have a polio vaccination campaign without at least temporary pauses in the fight,” Crickx said. “Parents must be able to bring their children safely to health centers or to mobile units. The humanitarian and health workers who will be delivering the vaccines must also be able to do so safely and have access to the children who need the vaccine.”

UNRWA has stated that it has been able to vaccinate 80% of children in Gaza since the current conflict began in October last year. However, these vaccinations were not specifically targeted against poliovirus type 2. Moreover, the vaccination rate was significantly lower than the pre-war norm (99% by 2022 according to WHO and UNICEF), which kept polio at bay in Gaza for 25 years.

The IDF branch responsible for the occupied Palestinian territories, Cogat, said on Friday that 43,250 vials of vaccine, “specially matched to the virus identified in environmental samples,” are expected to arrive in Israel and then enter the Gaza Strip.

Each vial contains multiple doses and the total should be more than enough to vaccinate more than 1 million children twice, Cogat said.

Israel was said to be providing refrigerated trucks to keep the vaccines cool, but in a social media postLazzarini said: “It is not enough to bring the vaccines into Gaza and protect the cold chain.

“To have an impact, vaccines need to reach the mouths of every child under 10,” he added.

The challenge of distributing the vaccine in Gaza will be substantial. Most families have already been displaced multiple times by Israeli bombardments. In the absence of a ceasefire, the entire operation will be extremely dangerous for health workers, the children being vaccinated and their families.

“No one is safe, nowhere is safe,” Tedros said. “People are left with few options, after being uprooted multiple times, to find shelter, health care and other services in an already overcrowded and challenging environment.”

Write on the X social media siteThe WHO chief added: “The proximity of evacuation orders to health points and hospitals in affected areas puts these health facilities at risk of becoming non-functional due to insecurity and lack of safe access for patients, health workers, ambulances and partners to resupply them. This must be avoided at all costs.”