A 10-month-old baby has been partially paralysed after contracting polio in Gaza, United Nations officials have said.
According to the UN, Gaza has not registered a polio case for 25 years, although type 2 poliovirus was detected in samples collected from the territory’s wastewater in June.
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he is "gravely concerned" and confirmed that efforts are under way to roll out a vaccination programme in the coming weeks.
In efforts to contain the spread, the UN has been pressing for a week-long pause in fighting to carry out a polio vaccination campaign for more than 640,000 children under the age of 10.
WHO has approved the release of 1.6 million doses of vaccine and UNICEF is coordinating their delivery along with cold storage units. UNRWA’s medical teams will administer the vaccines once they arrive in Gaza.
On 18 August, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said since 7 October, 282,126 vials of the polio vaccine, sufficient for 2,821,260 doses, have been sent to Gaza.
They added that an additional 60,000 vaccines will be delivered to vaccinate over one million children in the coming weeks.
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