"We know how an effective polio vaccination campaign must be administered," United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said. "Given the wholesale devastation in Gaza, at least 95% vaccination coverage will be needed during each round of the two-round campaign to prevent polio's spread and reduce its emergence."
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The U.N. World Health Organization and other groups sounded the alarm after poliovirus type 2 was found in Gaza wastewater last month. The discovery prompted the Israel Defense Forces to offer polio vaccines to its soldiers taking part in the invasion of the coastal enclave. Earlier this month, the Gaza Health Ministry declared the entire strip a "polio epidemic zone."
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Children, who make up around half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million people, have been particularly hard-hit by Israel's 316-day Gaza onslaught. More than 16,000 of the at least 40,000 Palestinians killed by Israeli bombs and bullets are minors. The "complete siege" of Gaza—which has been entered as evidence in the International Court of Justice genocide trial against Israel—has disrupted the entry of food, medicine, and other vital supplies, fueling a famine that has killed dozens of Palestinian children.
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"Polio does not care about dividing lines, and polio does not wait," Guterres said. "Polio goes beyond politics. It transcends all divisions. And so it is our shared obligation to come together. To mobilize—not to fight people, but to fight polio."
However, he stressed, "it is impossible to conduct a polio vaccination campaign with war raging all over."