WHO hopes to start Gaza polio vaccination second round on Oct 14 

GENEVA, Oct 4: The World Health Organization said on Friday it hopes to give hundreds of thousands of children in war-stricken Gaza, where diseases are spreading rapidly, a second dose of polio vaccine from October 14. 

The WHO said it was in talks on the date with Israel, which has been waging war in the densely-populated Gaza Strip since Hamas's October 7, 2024 attack. 

Much of the territory lies in ruins and the majority of its 2.4 million residents have been forced to flee their homes due to Israel's military assault -- often taking refuge in cramped and unsanitary conditions. 
"We have requested the start of the second round of the polio campaign on October 14... and we expect that the vaccination should finish by the October 29," said Ayadil Saparbekov, the senior WHO official for emergencies in the Palestinian territories.    —AFP