Mass polio vaccination campaign to begin in Gaza Strip A mass polio vaccination campaign for young children is set to commence in the Gaza Strip, presenting challenges in a war-torn area with disrupted infrastructure and ongoing conflict. The effort requires coordination among Israeli authorities, humanitarian agencies, aid workers, and the health ministry in Gaza, run by Hamas. Both Israel and Hamas have agreed to temporary ceasefires to allow aid workers to vaccinate children. However, concerns persist about the sustainability of these agreements due to the prolonged conflict in the region. The polio outbreak in Gaza is believed to be vaccine-derived Type 2, which has also caused outbreaks in Africa. The vaccination campaign aims to target this strain and prevent further spread of the disease. The first confirmed polio patient in Gaza in 25 years is a young boy living in a tent in central Gaza. The unsanitary conditions and deteriorating health services in the region have contributed to the spread of the virus. The vaccination campaign will involve staggered pauses in military operations, with health authorities planning to distribute over 1.2 million doses of polio vaccines to about 640,000 children in Gaza under 10 years old. The failure of the vaccination campaign could result in the continued circulation of the virus, posing a risk of spread beyond Gaza. Achieving global eradication of polio would require eliminating the wild-type poliovirus in Pakistan and Afghanistan and phasing out the live-virus component in oral vaccines. Until then, vaccination-induced "herd immunity" remains the best protection against polio.