٠٠:٠٢:٢٣World Health Organisation (WHO) Representative for the West Bank and Gaza Rik Peeperkorn claimed to be 'happy with this polio campaign' during a media briefing on the situation in the Gaza Strip on Thursday.
"Up till now, actually in the north, we vaccinated 105,908 children. Today's figures have not been included. We saw on the first day in the north something like 89,000, or 81,000, then 24 [thousand]. So, we expect maybe today another between five and 10 thousand," he stated.
Peeperkorn declared that "this polio campaign and the technical committee did a fantastic job to actually set it up so quickly," noting that this 'was probably the most complex' campaign he has ever experienced.
The WHO representative underlined that medical personnel use fixed sites and mobile teams to provide vaccinations as 'there are few houses left and people have been moving constantly'.
"We should not forget what we understand, so roughly 150,000 people have left Gaza since the war and everything started, this crisis started. So, we might have overestimated it. It's really, really important that we do this post-campaign monitoring well," remarked Peeperkorn.
He elaborated: "They intentionally also set at very, they maybe set a bit overestimated zero till 10 years, to make sure, first of all, that we have enough vaccines in place, vaccine carriers, and everything," emphasising that the post-campaign monitoring is even more important 'in a country or an area where you do for the first time'.
The representative announced that they 'reached an enormous amount of children in this short time', and "want to reach 90 percent plus of our target and then repeat it four weeks later."
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the launch of an emergency polio vaccination campaign in Gaza on August 31. The campaign ran from September 1 to 12, following the first recorded cases of the disease in the enclave in a quarter of a century.
On August 16, the health ministry confirmed the first case of polio in Gaza for a quarter of a century in an 11-month-old baby. This comes after the virus was detected in sewage samples taken from Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah in July 2024.
The health ministry is collaborating with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the WHO, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to vaccinate an estimated 640,000 children under the age of ten in the strip over two rounds during September. The campaign aims to protect hundreds of thousands of young Gazan children from contracting poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2).
The WHO and UNICEF say two seven-day humanitarian pauses should be implemented to allow the vaccination campaign to be carried out safely and ensure access to health facilities for children and families.
Polio is a highly contagious virus that infects the nervous system and can lead to paralysis. It spreads mainly through the transmission of faecal material from an infected person to other people through contaminated water or food.
Earlier, the Israel Defence Force (IDF) announced it would launch a campaign to vaccinate its soldiers deployed in Gaza against the poliovirus.
The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza broke out on October 7 after the Palestinian group launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel, killing 1,139 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping over 200, according to Israeli officials.
Israel launched a large-scale response of airstrikes and a ground incursion. Palestinian officials reported that 41,084 people had been killed and more than 95,029 injured at the time of publication.
'Happy with this polio campaign' - WHO rep for Gaza reports over 105,000 vaccinated, speaks on polio situation in region
World Health Organisation (WHO) Representative for the West Bank and Gaza Rik Peeperkorn claimed to be 'happy with this polio campaign' during a media briefing on the situation in the Gaza Strip on Thursday.
"Up till now, actually in the north, we vaccinated 105,908 children. Today's figures have not been included. We saw on the first day in the north something like 89,000, or 81,000, then 24 [thousand]. So, we expect maybe today another between five and 10 thousand," he stated.
Peeperkorn declared that "this polio campaign and the technical committee did a fantastic job to actually set it up so quickly," noting that this 'was probably the most complex' campaign he has ever experienced.
The WHO representative underlined that medical personnel use fixed sites and mobile teams to provide vaccinations as 'there are few houses left and people have been moving constantly'.
"We should not forget what we understand, so roughly 150,000 people have left Gaza since the war and everything started, this crisis started. So, we might have overestimated it. It's really, really important that we do this post-campaign monitoring well," remarked Peeperkorn.
He elaborated: "They intentionally also set at very, they maybe set a bit overestimated zero till 10 years, to make sure, first of all, that we have enough vaccines in place, vaccine carriers, and everything," emphasising that the post-campaign monitoring is even more important 'in a country or an area where you do for the first time'.
The representative announced that they 'reached an enormous amount of children in this short time', and "want to reach 90 percent plus of our target and then repeat it four weeks later."
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the launch of an emergency polio vaccination campaign in Gaza on August 31. The campaign ran from September 1 to 12, following the first recorded cases of the disease in the enclave in a quarter of a century.
On August 16, the health ministry confirmed the first case of polio in Gaza for a quarter of a century in an 11-month-old baby. This comes after the virus was detected in sewage samples taken from Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah in July 2024.
The health ministry is collaborating with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the WHO, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to vaccinate an estimated 640,000 children under the age of ten in the strip over two rounds during September. The campaign aims to protect hundreds of thousands of young Gazan children from contracting poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2).
The WHO and UNICEF say two seven-day humanitarian pauses should be implemented to allow the vaccination campaign to be carried out safely and ensure access to health facilities for children and families.
Polio is a highly contagious virus that infects the nervous system and can lead to paralysis. It spreads mainly through the transmission of faecal material from an infected person to other people through contaminated water or food.
Earlier, the Israel Defence Force (IDF) announced it would launch a campaign to vaccinate its soldiers deployed in Gaza against the poliovirus.
The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza broke out on October 7 after the Palestinian group launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel, killing 1,139 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping over 200, according to Israeli officials.
Israel launched a large-scale response of airstrikes and a ground incursion. Palestinian officials reported that 41,084 people had been killed and more than 95,029 injured at the time of publication.
World Health Organisation (WHO) Representative for the West Bank and Gaza Rik Peeperkorn claimed to be 'happy with this polio campaign' during a media briefing on the situation in the Gaza Strip on Thursday.
"Up till now, actually in the north, we vaccinated 105,908 children. Today's figures have not been included. We saw on the first day in the north something like 89,000, or 81,000, then 24 [thousand]. So, we expect maybe today another between five and 10 thousand," he stated.
Peeperkorn declared that "this polio campaign and the technical committee did a fantastic job to actually set it up so quickly," noting that this 'was probably the most complex' campaign he has ever experienced.
The WHO representative underlined that medical personnel use fixed sites and mobile teams to provide vaccinations as 'there are few houses left and people have been moving constantly'.
"We should not forget what we understand, so roughly 150,000 people have left Gaza since the war and everything started, this crisis started. So, we might have overestimated it. It's really, really important that we do this post-campaign monitoring well," remarked Peeperkorn.
He elaborated: "They intentionally also set at very, they maybe set a bit overestimated zero till 10 years, to make sure, first of all, that we have enough vaccines in place, vaccine carriers, and everything," emphasising that the post-campaign monitoring is even more important 'in a country or an area where you do for the first time'.
The representative announced that they 'reached an enormous amount of children in this short time', and "want to reach 90 percent plus of our target and then repeat it four weeks later."
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the launch of an emergency polio vaccination campaign in Gaza on August 31. The campaign ran from September 1 to 12, following the first recorded cases of the disease in the enclave in a quarter of a century.
On August 16, the health ministry confirmed the first case of polio in Gaza for a quarter of a century in an 11-month-old baby. This comes after the virus was detected in sewage samples taken from Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah in July 2024.
The health ministry is collaborating with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the WHO, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to vaccinate an estimated 640,000 children under the age of ten in the strip over two rounds during September. The campaign aims to protect hundreds of thousands of young Gazan children from contracting poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2).
The WHO and UNICEF say two seven-day humanitarian pauses should be implemented to allow the vaccination campaign to be carried out safely and ensure access to health facilities for children and families.
Polio is a highly contagious virus that infects the nervous system and can lead to paralysis. It spreads mainly through the transmission of faecal material from an infected person to other people through contaminated water or food.
Earlier, the Israel Defence Force (IDF) announced it would launch a campaign to vaccinate its soldiers deployed in Gaza against the poliovirus.
The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza broke out on October 7 after the Palestinian group launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel, killing 1,139 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping over 200, according to Israeli officials.
Israel launched a large-scale response of airstrikes and a ground incursion. Palestinian officials reported that 41,084 people had been killed and more than 95,029 injured at the time of publication.