Nearly three million doses of polio vaccine have been delivered into Gaza since the start of the war launched against Israel on October 7, 2023, by Hamas.
A total of 282,126 vials of the polio vaccine — sufficient for 2,821,260 doses — have been sent to Gaza since the war broke out, according to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Israel’s liaison with Arabs in Gaza and in the Palestinian Authority.
Moreover, in the coming weeks, an additional 60,000 vaccines will be delivered to vaccinate over one million children in the enclave, COGAT said Sunday in a statement.
The entry of vaccines into Gaza for disease and epidemic prevention is being facilitated as part of the medical efforts for Gaza led by COGAT. This includes the entry of medical teams along with vaccines against the polio virus.
Since the discovery of the virus in July, and as part of the vaccination campaign, 9,000 vials were brought through the Kerem Shalom crossing, providing 90,000 additional doses of the vaccine.
In the coming weeks, 43,250 vials of vaccine, specifically tailored to the virus strain found in environmental samples, are expected to arrive in Israel and will enter the Gaza Strip as well, COGAT said.
“This will be sufficient to vaccinate over one million children (in two rounds), a total of 2,162,500 doses.”
In-depth situational assessments are conducted twice a week with the Ministry of Health, the WHO, and UNICEF to monitor and understand the status of the spread of the virus in the Gaza Strip. Specific meetings are also being held to implement the vaccinations among the Gaza population in Gaza in cooperation with USAID.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 90 percent of the population in the Gaza Strip was vaccinated against polio in the first quarter of 2024.
Furthermore, as part of the medical response provided by the State of Israel, COGAT maintains continuous contact and conducts situational assessments with all health system stakeholders and the international community for ongoing monitoring of the medical situation in the Gaza Strip.
Since the beginning of the war, the State of Israel has also facilitated the establishment of 14 field hospitals in Gaza alongside the entry of 2,566 trucks carrying 25,955 tons of medications and medical equipment into Gaza, all of which have been distributed to the population.
