Final phase for polio vaccinations resumes in northern Gaza

Nov. 2 (UPI) -- The third and final phase of polio vaccinations resumed Saturday in the northern Gaza strip after being postponed due to a lack of access and safety concerns.

The vaccinations were to get underway on Oct. 23, but intense bombardment and mass evacuation orders "made it impossible for families to safely bring their children for vaccination and for vaccination teams to perform their duties," UNICEF officials said in an online announcement on Friday.

"The humanitarian pause necessary to conduct the campaign has been assured, however, the area of the pause has been substantially reduced compared to the first round of vaccination in northern Gaza," UNICEF said.

As least 100,000 people have had to evacuate northern Gaza, and some communities in northern Gaza remain inaccessible.

Those communities include the towns of Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, where an estimated 15,000 children under age 10 won't receive a second dose of the polio vaccine.

The inability to fully vaccinate those children undermines the effectiveness of the polio vaccination effort, UNICEF said.

At least 90% of all children in every community must be fully vaccinated to achieve herd immunity, which requires two doses of the vaccine.

The current situation in northern Gaza is making that virtually impossible, according to UNICEF.

"The final phase of the campaign had aimed to reach an estimated 119,000 children under 10 years old in northern Gaza with a second dose of novel oral polio vaccine type 2," UNICEF said. "However, achieving this target now is unlikely due to access constraints."

The Polio Technical Committee for Gaza resumed the vaccination campaign to overcome a long delay in administering a second round of polio vaccinations in northern Gaza after many children and their families were evacuated to Gaza City.

The first round of vaccinations occurred in September and UNICEF said 216 teams are in place at 106 fixed sites to make the second round of polio vaccinations as accessible as possible.

Another 209 "social mobilizers" are deployed to raise awareness of the vaccination effort in targeted communities.

"The campaign in northern Gaza follows the successful implementation of the first two phases of the second round in central and southern Gaza, which reach 451,216 children," UNICEF said.

About 96% of children age 10 and under in southern and central Gaza are fully vaccinated.

Polio mostly affects children under 5 years of age and causes irreversible paralysis in one out of every 200 cases, according to the World Health Organization.

Between 5% and 10% of paralysis cases end in death when the victim's breathing muscles are immobilized.