UN agencies and partners have launched the second phase of a mass campaign to vaccinate some 540,000 young children in Gaza against polio.

Teams have all the necessary supplies to carry out the campaign, including cold chain storage for the vaccine doses and finger markers to indicate a child has been inoculated, said Hamish Young, Senior Emergency Coordinator for Gaza with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). 

However, what they need most is access, he said, particularly when the campaign heads to northern Gaza next week, given the new evacuation orders issued by Israel and the escalation in hostilities. 

Mr. Young spoke to UN News’s Khaled Mohammed about some of the surprises from the first day, the challenges that lie ahead, and why Israel must adhere to its commitment to ensure teams can safely vaccinate all children amid the ongoing war.