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Polio vaccination campaign in Gaza may resume on November 2, WHO chief says

"Unfortunately, the area covered is substantially reduced compared to the first round of vaccination, which will leave some children unprotected and at higher risk of infection," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said

GENEVA, November 1. /TASS/. Polio vaccination in Gaza may resume on November 2, World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

"Polio vaccination in northern Gaza is ready to resume tomorrow. We are assured of the necessary humanitarian pause in Gaza City to conduct the campaign," he wrote on the X social media platform. "Unfortunately, the area covered is substantially reduced compared to the first round of vaccination, which will leave some children unprotected and at higher risk of infection," the WHO chief noted.

"The WHO and UNICEF urge for the humanitarian pauses to be respected. However, what the children in northern Gaza and across the whole Strip really need is peace," he stressed.

The first round of the polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip took place in the first half of September and the second one was held in October. The third round, which was scheduled to begin on October 23, had to be postponed due to an escalation of tensions.

The Palestinian Health Ministry announced on August 16 that the first confirmed polio case had been reported in Deir al-Balah. The patient, a ten-month-old child, had never been vaccinated.