(27 Aug 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Amman, Jordan – 27 August 2024
++VIA VIDEO CALL++
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Ammar Ammar, spokesperson with UNICEF:
"UNICEF is delivering 1.6 million polio vaccines to the Gaza Strip for a campaign that would vaccinate at least 640,000 children in two rounds. The first round will start on the 31st of August, and the second one in late September. Around 1.2 million vaccines arrived on 25th of August, ahead of the remaining 400,000 vaccines, which are slated to arrive as well for the second round. But it is very important to highlight that both rounds must be enabled through a ceasefire or, at minimum, a pause in the fighting for the teams to be able to reach out to the children, and for the children and their families to be able to reach the hospitals and the health facilities where vaccinations will take place."
++BLACK FRAMES++
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Ammar Ammar, spokesperson with UNICEF:
"Basically the vaccination has to take place across the Gaza strip, in different areas, because we would need to reach 648,000 children under the age 10 in two rounds, in the span of one week."
++BLACK FRAMES++
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Ammar Ammar, spokesperson with UNICEF:
"For us to be able to prevent the spread of the polio and reduce the risk of its resurgence, and to reach at least 95% vaccination coverage of the 640,000 children during each round of the campaign, we would need a polio pause. Without the polio pause or ceasefire, it would be impossible. We keep trying, we’ve tried our best, but it’d be almost impossible to reach this huge number. And this is due to the continued evacuation orders, continued displacement of the children and their families. In addition, it could be extremely dangerous for teams as well, to be able to reach the children."
++BLACK FRAMES++
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Ammar Ammar, spokesperson with UNICEF:
"We are engaging with the different parties to ensure that there are measures implemented to ensure the safety of the vaccination campaign. And this would be best done through a polio pause, because this would ensure a fast delivery of the different teams across the different parts of the Gaza Strip in the span of one week to vaccinate the 640,000 children in a safe and convenient manner."
++BLACK FRAMES++
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Ammar Ammar, spokesperson with UNICEF:
"We are hopeful that the discussions, the ongoing discussions with different parties will lead to the agreement that the INICEF, WHO, and UNRWA with the partners and the Ministry of Health, the Palestinian Ministry of Health would be able to roll out this massive campaign, because, again, the alternative is it would have a disastrous effect. So there is no other option but to enable this rollout of the vaccination campaign. Otherwise, not only the children in Gaza will be at risk, but in the whole broader region."
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
The U.N. children’s agency is delivering 1.6 million polio vaccines to the Gaza Strip to vaccinate 640,000 children in two rounds starting on Aug. 31.
However, the campaign’s success depends on a ceasefire or pause in fighting, according to a UNICEF spokesperson.
Ammar Ammar, the regional spokesman for the agency said "we would need to reach 648,000 children under the age 10 in two rounds, in the span of one week."
"Without the polio pause or ceasefire, it would be impossible," he added.
Around 1.2 million vaccine doses arrived in Gaza on Sunday, with the remaining 400,000 doses to arrived in a second round of delivery, Ammar said.
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