UN begins polio vaccination in Gaza

The United Nations, in collaboration with Palestinian health authorities, began to vaccinate 640,000 children in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, with Israel and Hamas agreeing to brief pauses in the conflict to allow the vaccination campaign.

The campaign began in areas of central Gaza, and will move to other areas in the coming days. Fighting will be paused for at least eight hours on three consecutive days, CNA News reported.

Rik Peeperkorn, head of the World Health Organization office for the West Bank and Gaza, said 2,180 workers in 295 teams would administer the oral vaccines to 640,000 children under 10 years of age at 392 sites. The vaccine is to be delivered in two doses about four weeks apart.