Polio vaccine. (Shutterstock)
Fearing mass outbreaks caused by sewage in the Gaza Strip, Israel’s military launches mass vaccination effort among both IDF soldiers and Gaza civilians to combat polio.
By World Israel News Staff
Israel’s military is launching a mass vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip, as the ground operation against Hamas forces in the coastal enclave continues.
Following reports of the presence of the polio virus in the Gaza Strip, the IDF conducted sampling tests in various areas of the Strip where traces of the contagious polio virus were found in water contaminated, likely through contact with raw sewage or groundwater exposed to leaky sewage lines.
Based on the findings, an army spokesperson said Sunday, the IDF, in coordination with Israel’s Ministry of Health, is launching a mass vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip, with the aim of immunizing Israeli soldiers and Gaza civilians and preventing a mass outbreak of the virus.
The army’s Technology and Logistics Division has launched a widespread vaccination campaign for all regular and reserve maneuvering forces. Vaccinations will be administered gradually as units are rotated out of front-line service.
Additionally, IDF soldiers operating in the Gaza Strip have been instructed to maintain high levels of personal hygiene.
The new vaccination campaign is voluntary, the army emphasized, adding that no soldiers will be compelled to receive the polio vaccine.
Alongside the vaccination campaign for soldiers, the IDF is working with various organizations to bring vaccines into the Gaza Strip for the civilian population.
Since the beginning of the war in October, approximately 300,000 polio vaccine doses have been brought into the Gaza Strip in cooperation with international organizations.
The IDF’s Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Major General Ghassan Alian, is in contact with foreign organizations to facilitate the entry of additional polio vaccine doses for the residents of the Gaza Strip.
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