WHO: “Some operations suspended for polio vaccination in Gaza”

▶ Let’s go Central → South → North for 3 days each… Stop fighting from 6 AM to 3 PM

▶ Extension of the deadline by one day is possible… ‘Health Paralysis’ Gaza, first outbreak case confirmed in 25 years

Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas have agreed to temporarily suspend some military operations in the war-torn Gaza Strip to ensure the safe administration of polio vaccines, a World Health Organization (WHO) official said on the 29th (local time).

Rick Pfeifferkorn, WHO representative for Palestine, announced at a UN briefing today that Israel and Hamas have agreed to cease fighting in the central Gaza Strip for three days starting on March 1st, between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m. local time, to allow polio vaccinations for 650,000 children under the age of 10 in the Gaza Strip.

He explained that once the vaccination drive in central Gaza is completed, fighting will be halted sequentially for three days in the southern and northern parts of Gaza to allow for vaccinations.

The two sides agreed to extend the regional ceasefire period to four days if necessary, Pfefferkorn added.

He noted that 1.26 million doses of polio vaccine have already arrived in the Gaza Strip for this vaccination.

He also explained that a second dose is required four weeks after the first dose.

The previous day, the Washington Post (WP) reported that U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken, who visited Israel last week, pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt operations to administer vaccines.

The European Union (EU) has also urged Israel to halt its vaccine operations.

Earlier, in the central Gaza Strip, a 10-month-old baby who had not been vaccinated was confirmed to have contracted polio for the first time on the 16th. It was the first time in 25 years that a polio case was confirmed in the Gaza Strip.

The WHO said two more children in the Gaza Strip had developed symptoms of paralysis and had sent samples to a lab in Jordan for confirmation.

Hundreds more people are believed to have polio, although they have no symptoms.

For months, experts have been warning of a possible polio outbreak in Gaza, where the health system has collapsed.

The WHO also warned of the risk of spreading infectious diseases, saying that the type 2 mutant poliovirus was discovered in sewage samples collected in the Gaza Strip in July.

The polio virus is spread through sewage and mostly contaminated water and is highly contagious. It mainly affects children under 5 years of age, but adults can also get it and can cause permanent muscle weakness, paralysis, etc.

Dr. Hamid Jaafari, WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Director for Polio Eradication, has urged rapid vaccination, saying, “Delays in vaccination can have serious consequences. They can spread the poliovirus not only to Israel and the West Bank, but also to neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Jordan.”