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The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced the resumption of a mass polio vaccination campaign in Gaza.
“The emergency polio outbreak response in the Gaza Strip is continuing, with a mass vaccination campaign scheduled from 22 to 26 February 2025,” WHO said in a press release. “The novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) will be administered to over 591 000 children under 10 years of age to protect them from polio. This campaign follows the recent detection of poliovirus in wastewater samples in Gaza, signaling ongoing circulation in the environment, putting children at risk.”
“Pockets of individuals with low or no immunity provide the virus an opportunity to continue spreading and potentially cause disease. The current environment in Gaza, including overcrowding in shelters and severely damaged water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure, which facilitates fecal-oral transmission, create ideal conditions for further spread of poliovirus. Extensive population movement consequent to the current ceasefire is likely to exacerbate the spread of poliovirus infection,” it added, noting that two previous vaccination rounds in the Gaza Strip were successfully conducted in September and October 2024, reaching over 95% of the target.