The IDF together with Israel’s Health Ministry decided this weekend to inoculate Israeli soldiers against the polio virus if they are fighting in Gaza.
Following reports of the presence of the poliovirus in Gaza — a virus which is contagious through drinking or oral contact with contaminated water — the IDF conducted sampling tests in various areas where remnants of the poliovirus were reported.
“Based on the findings, it was decided by the IDF, in coordination with the Ministry of Health, that troops operating in the area should undergo vaccination against the virus to maintain the health of both the soldiers and Israeli citizens,” the IDF said.
The Technological and Logistics Directorate (J4) has begun a broad vaccination operation for all ground troops, both regular and reserves.
The vaccinations are to be carried out gradually as troops are refreshed upon entry into the enclave. “These vaccinations are given as part of the IDF’s responsibility towards the public and its soldiers,” the IDF said.
In addition, the troops were given precise instructions on how to maintain personal hygiene to prevent catching the virus.
“It is important to emphasize that a soldier who does not want to be vaccinated will not be obliged to do so,” the IDF added.
But frankly, it would not be wise to eschew this inoculation. Polio can be and sometimes is a crippling, even fatal, disease.
Alongside the vaccination operation for soldiers, the IDF is working with various organizations to bring vaccines intended for the Gaza population into the enclave.
Since the beginning of the war, with the cooperation of international organizations, approximately 300,000 polio vaccines have been introduced into the Gaza Strip, enough to inoculate more than a million Gazans.
IDF Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Major General Ghassan Alian, is in contact with the international community to seek additional polio vaccine doses for the residents of the Gaza Strip.
