WHO launches a large-scale vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip. In 10 days, they plan to vaccinate 44,000 children against measles, mumps, rubella and polio.
The World Health Organization (WHO) plans to launch a large-scale vaccination campaign for children in the Gaza Strip on Sunday. TASR informs about it according to the report of the DPA agency.
Over the course of ten days, authorities will vaccinate against measles, mumps, rubella and polio some 44,000 children who were not vaccinated during the two-year war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Children will receive the next vaccination dose in January.
Previous vaccination campaigns
After the outbreak of the polio virus in the Gaza Strip, WHO undertook vaccination campaigns during the ceasefire in the summer of 2024 and in February 2025. However, mobile vaccination teams could not reach some children.
The WHO estimates that 20 percent of children under the age of five have not been vaccinated, or have only been partially vaccinated. Simultaneously with the vaccination campaign, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will evaluate malnutrition in order to be able to help young people in a targeted way and as quickly as possible.
A decrease in the general vaccination rate
According to the health organization, before the war the general vaccination rate in the Gaza Strip was 98 percent. It is now believed to be less than 70 percent.
