Health official says polio vaccine campaign begins in war-torn Gaza

A health official said a polio vaccination campaign began in Gaza on Saturday (August 31, 2024), while an aid worker said a large-scale rollout would begin on Sunday (September 1, 2024), coinciding with a “humanitarian pause” agreed by Israel and Hamas.

The vaccination drive was announced after Gaza recorded its first polio case in a quarter of a century earlier this month.

Local health officials along with the UN and NGOs “are starting today the polio vaccination campaign”, Moussa Abed, director of primary health care at the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, told AFP on Saturday (August 31, 2024).