With polio in Gaza, a new challenge emerges: How to vaccinate 640,000 children in a war zone?
Sheena Goodyear | CBC Radio | Posted: August 28, 2024 8:00 AM | Last Updated: August 28
1.2 million vaccine doses are sitting in a Deir al-Balah warehouse as aid workers call for a pause in fighting
Right now in central Gaza, there's a warehouse stacked high with boxes of polio vaccines just waiting to be distributed.
The 1.2 million doses arrived in Deir al-Balah on Sunday through the combined efforts of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
The plan is to immunize 640,000 children in an attempt to halt the spread of a disease that has reared its head in the territory for the first time in a quarter century.
But in order to make it work, aid workers say they need peace — at least for a couple of days.
"It's almost impossible to do a polio vaccination campaign anywhere in the world if it's in the conflict combat zone," Jonathan Crickx, a spokesperson for UNICEF based in Jerusalem, told As It Happens host Nil Köksal.
"So it is absolutely required that at least some places, on some days, are safe — or relatively safe — so that we can operate and the families can come."
Calling for 'Days of Tranquillity'
UNICEF, WHO and other aid organizations are calling for a series of temporary pauses in fighting — what they're calling "Days of Tranquillity" — to safely distribute two rounds of polio vaccines.
Doing so, Crickx says, is in everyone's best interest, regardless what side of the war they're on.
"Viruses don't know borders, walls or fences," Crickx said. "It's concerning for every child in the region, not only for the children who are currently living in the Gaza Strip."
Reached for comment, COGAT, the Israeli military's humanitarian unit, referred to a written statement from Sunday that promised "international and local medical teams will vaccinate children ... in coordination with the IDF through COGAT, as part of the routine humanitarian pauses that will allow the population to reach the medical centres where the vaccinations will be administered."
Hamas has previously indicated it would co-operate with immunization efforts.
The plan, Crickz says, is to distribute the vaccines to 11 health clinics, as well as mobile units, while simultaneously running an awareness campaign.
Those efforts were supposed to begin on Monday, but came to a grinding halt when Israel issued new evacuation orders on Sunday for Deir al-Balah.
The city in central Gaza is where the UN's operation centre is located, moved there from Rafah in the south after Israel ordered evacuations there.
"We are being squeezed into ever smaller areas of Gaza," Sam Rose, a senior field director for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, told reporters.
Israel's humanitarian zone in Gaza now comprises just 11 per cent of the territory, Rose said.
"But this isn't 11 per cent of land that is fit for habitation, fit for services, fit for life," he said.
Polio variant once considered eradicated
Last week, the WHO confirmed the first case of polio in Gaza in more than 25 years — 11-month-old Abdul Rahman Abu Al-Jidyan, who is partially paralyzed in his lower left leg.
Gaza's health ministry declared a polio epidemic in July after finding the virus in wastewater.
While Gazans have historically had a high polio immunization rate, the war has left the health-care system in shambles, and more than 90 per cent of the population displaced.
Amid the chaos of war, he says, roughly 180 new babies are born every day.
"Those babies are born in different parts [of the Gaza Strip]. Sometimes they can't be reached for the basic routine immunisation," he said.
What's more, he says the variant currently spreading in Gaza is Type 2 poliovirus, which was previously considered eradicated in the region and is not a part of routine immunization. That means it's not just newborns, but also children, who are at risk.
And on top of all that, he says, are the terrible conditions on the ground, with crowding and a lack of clean water.
WATCH | Gaza's 1st polio case in decades:
The war began on Oct. 7, when Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and other militants stormed Israel, killing around 1,200 people, and taking more than 200 people hostage, according to Israeli figures. An Israeli offensive launched in response has killed more than 40,000 people in Gaza, according to Gaza's health ministry, which does not distinguish between militants and civilians.
The International Court of Justice is currently investigating whether Israel's operations in Gaza constitute a genocide, something Israel has vehemently denied.
Despite everything, Crickx says there's hope — at least for this particular fight.
UNICEF and WHO estimate that if they can vaccinate 90 to 95 per cent of children under 10, with the first dose distributed in September, and a second round in October, they can effectively halt the spread of polio.
He says he believes parents, despite everything on their plates, will show up to get their children immunized. Many have already been lining up for the limited doses available from Palestinian health officials.
"They know that it's very important to get their children vaccinated. Now, will all the conditions be there for us to operate? This is what we are asking for," he said. "But only time will tell."