Vaccine rollout in Gaza may cause polio pandemic, scientists warn
A campaign by the World Health Organization (WHO) to mass-vaccinate Gazans against polio may end up causing a polio pandemic, scientists warn.
‘Prone to mutations’
In late June, six sewage samples from Gaza showed traces of polio. More recently, a 10-month-old Gazan child reportedly tested positive for poliovirus.
The WHO is therefore working with Hamas and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) to administer an experimental vaccine to over 640,000 children in the Gaza Strip. The nOPV2 vaccine reportedly contains a live, weakened version of the poliovirus, which Dr. Yoav Yehezkelli and MIT Professor Retsef Levi say may actually cause a polio outbreak.
“It is prone to mutations, which can create active polio strains and may release vaccine-induced polio,” Levi and Yehezkelli wrote in an urgent letter to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Israel Hayom reported Monday. “Such a release may lead to the spread of the virus in the sewers, causing illness, especially to unvaccinated and immunocompromised infants. Administering a live attenuated vaccine to 640,000 children in a short period of time significantly increases the risk of releasing the virus and creating a widespread infection.”
An outbreak would likely spread to Israel
The letter, which was signed by several other scientists, stressed that the danger is not limited to Gaza. Damage to the Strip’s sewer systems from the ongoing war may cause the virus to seep into Israel.
“The fact that the sewer system in Gaza was damaged as a result of the war increases the risk of the virus leaking into the Mediterranean Sea or the Israeli groundwater. Such a leak could significantly worsen the spread of the live virus, thus also endangering public health in Israel,” the scientists added in the letter.
An unapproved vaccine with little safety data
The nOPV2 vaccine, developed in Indonesia, has so little safety data that it has not been accepted in Western countries.
“The nOVP2 vaccine designated by the World Health Organization for Gaza children is not approved for use in any of the Western countries, and its clinical studies have not yet been completed.
“The vaccine is produced in Indonesia – a developing country where there is no access to information about the production conditions in the factory, and it is only administered in developing countries, under an emergency permit from the World Health Organization,” the scientists wrote, adding: “Even in Israel, the pharmacy division did not allow it to be imported for these reasons. Gaza will, therefore, be used as an experimental laboratory by the World Health Organization, and the children of Gaza will serve as guinea pigs for this vaccine.”
Israel to blame
The letter also cautioned Gallant that if the vaccines indeed trigger a polio pandemic, the WHO and the UN will blame Israel.
“During the war, the United Nations and its subsidiary organizations, such as UNRWA, presented a clear bias against Israel. There is room for caution in Israel's cooperation with this organization, so that Israel will not be accused of cooperating with an experiment of a new vaccine in Gaza children, especially a vaccine that is considered to have the potential to cause a serious illness."
Israel’s response
In response to the letter, Israel’s Health Ministry said such decisions “are not determined by the State of Israel.” The ministry urged Israelis to receive the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) that has been used in Israel over the last 40 years.
