A health organization is a The United Nations and its partners will begin a campaign on Sunday to vaccinate 640,000 Palestinian children against polio in Gazaan ambitious effort in the midst of a devastating war that destroyed the region’s health care system.

The campaign comes after the first case of polio was recorded in Gaza in 25 years, in a 10-month-old baby who is now paralyzed. The World Health Organization He says that the presence of one case of paralysis indicates that there could be hundreds of others infected who have not shown symptoms.

Most people who get polio do not have symptoms, and those who do usually recover in about a week. But there is no cure, and when it causes paralysis it is usually permanent. If paralysis affects the respiratory system, the disease can be fatal.

The vaccination campaign will not be easy: Gaza’s roads are mostly destroyed, hospitals are badly damaged and the population is scattered in remote areas.

The WHO said on Thursday that it had reached an agreement with Israel for a limited break in combat to allow the vaccination campaign to be carried out. However, operations on that scale will be a major problem in an area covered in rubble and where 90% of Palestinians are displaced.

How long will it last?

The three-day vaccination campaign will begin in central Gaza on Sunday, during a “humanitarian pause” between 6:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., and an additional day can be added if necessary, according to Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative there the land of Palestine.

In coordination with the Israeli authorities, the campaign will then move to the south and north of the border at similar times, he explained in a video conference from Deir al-Balah, in the middle of the Street.

Who gets the vaccine?

The campaign targets 640,000 children under 10 years of age, according to the WHO Each will receive two drops of oral polio vaccine in two rounds, with the second dose given four weeks after the first .

Where are the vaccination centers?

Vaccination centers are scattered throughout Gaza, inside and outside Israel’s evacuation zones, from Rafah in the south to the north.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health, based in Ramallah, said on Friday that more than 400 vaccination points will be “established”, mostly in Khan Younis, where population density is higher and 239,300 children under 10 years old. age These positions will be in health centers, hospitals, clinics and field hospitals.

In the rest of the territory, it will also be distributed at approximately 230 points established in community meeting places that are not normal medical centers.

Where are the vaccines now?

About 1.3 million doses of the vaccine passed through the Kerem Shalom checkpoint and are stored in “cold chain” in a warehouse in Deir al-Balah. This means that the facility can maintain the right temperature so that the drug does not lose its effectiveness.

Another shipment of 400,000 doses is expected to be delivered soon.

The vaccines will be transported by trucks to distribution points by a team of more than 2,000 medical volunteers, said UNICEF spokesperson Ammar Ammar.

What are the challenges that arise?

There are likely to be difficulties in organizing any kind of campaign that requires crossing Gaza and interacting with its health system.

The United Nations estimates that around 65% of the ocean’s road network has been damaged. Nineteen of the 36 hospitals in the Strip are out of service.

The north of the area is isolated from the south and travel between the two areas has been complicated during the war due to Israeli military operations. Aid groups had to cancel trips for security reasons after their convoys came under attack by the army.

Peeperkorn said on Friday that the WHO cannot conduct a door-to-door vaccination campaign in Gaza as it has done elsewhere. When asked about the viability of the effort, he noted that the entity believes “it is possible if all the puzzle pieces are in place.”

How many doses does a child need and what happens if they miss one?

The World Health Organization says that children usually need three or four doses of the oral vaccine – two drops at the same time – to be protected from the disease. If they don’t get them all, they are at risk of disease.

Doctors have found that children with malnutrition or other illnesses may need more than 10 doses to be fully protected.

Are there side effects?

Yes, but they are very rare.

Billions of doses of the oral vaccine have been given to children around the world and it is safe and effective. But in about one in 2.7 million doses, the live virus in the vaccine can paralyze the child receiving the drops.

How did this revolution in Gaza begin?

The polio virus that caused the latest outbreak is a mutation of the oral polio vaccine. This vaccine contains weak active viruses and, in very rare cases, the vaccine can shed the virus and it can evolve into a new strain capable of starting new epidemics .

___

Associate reporters Samy Magdy in Cairo and Maria Cheng in London contributed to this report.