First Babies Receive Polio Vaccinations in Gaza

The first group of babies received polio vaccinations in Gaza on Saturday ahead of the official start of a much-anticipated United Nations-led campaign on Sunday.

Babies in the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, central Gaza, were among the first to receive the vital vaccines on Saturday.

The main UN agency in Gaza, UNRWA, plans to immunize over 640,000 children in the war-torn enclave, facilitated by a series of pauses in fighting agreed to by Israel.

However, Palestinian health officials have stressed that a “real ceasefire” is needed for the UN-led polio vaccination drive to be fully successful in the enclave.

During a press conference organized by the Ministry of Health in Gaza to officially launch the campaign, Deputy Health Minister Yousef Abu Al-Reesh said that if “the international community wants the campaign to succeed,” it should call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

Vaccination teams are committed to traveling to “wherever there is a Palestinian person who needs this vaccination, despite the risks,” Al-Reesh said.

“However, it must be said that if the international community wants this campaign to succeed, everyone knows that this virus does not stop at borders and can reach everywhere, there needs to be a ceasefire so that the teams can reach everyone who is targeted by this campaign,” the minister added.

CNN/Shakirat Sadiq