UN's Polio Vaccination Campaign Progressing in Gaza

Despite the difficult conditions that exist in the Gaza Strip, the United Nations has led a successful campaign to provide polio vaccinations to children there. On Tuesday, the last phase of the campaign was underway to vaccinate approximately 200,000 children in northern Gaza. About 446,000 children have already been vaccinated in southern and central Gaza.

However, some aid workers complained of logistical problems which are making this final phase more difficult.

“The centralization of services in the south makes it extremely difficult for us to get fuel, to get access to vaccinations, and to all other logistics,” Mahmoud Shalabi of Medical Aid for Palestinians, a UK-based charity, told Reuters via a spokesperson. “There is still no fuel for the movement of vehicles for vaccination teams in the north.”

A second phase of vaccinations will be necessary next month.