The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the second round of the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza will begin on Monday, October 14. Children in Gaza who were first vaccinated on September 16 after the first polio case was recorded on August 16. In a written statement from the Ministry, it was announced that the second phase of the polio vaccination campaign for children under 10 in the central cities of Gaza, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNWRA), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has commenced.

The second phase aims to vaccinate more than 500,000 children and will last for 3 days, with the possibility of a one-day extension. Catherine Russell, the Executive Director of UNICEF, announced on social media on October 10 that the second round of the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza will commence on October 14, following an agreement with Israeli authorities on “humanitarian breaks in the regions.” The campaign against polio in Gaza was initiated after the Ministry of Health in Palestine announced the first case of polio in the Gaza Strip on August 16. The collaboration between the World Health Organization (WHO), the Ministry of Health in Palestine, UNICEF, and UNWRA began a polio vaccination campaign covering over 600,000 children under 10 in the Gaza Strip. The first round was completed on September 16, with reports that vaccination coverage reached 90%.