No More Zero Dose: Routine Immunization Mobilizers Make a Difference in the Gaza Strip
While Misk was too young to understand the vaccine’s significance, her mother, Fatima, watched on with appreciation after Azeeza, the community mobilizer, had explained the importance of RI.
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Misk is one of 30 children whom Azeeza has connected to vaccination services in just the past week. Earlier that day, Azeeza—one of Gaza’s dedicated Routine Immunization (RI) community mobilizers—began her morning, as she does every day, with a walk to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) medical center in Khan Younis. There, she consulted with the vaccination team, reviewed vaccination slips to verify how many of the children she referred the previous day had received their doses, and mapped out her plan for the day ahead.
From there, she headed to one of Khan Younis’ newly formed, improvised neighborhoods, the Sand Beach coastal area, where hundreds of families have fled to, and now live in shabby, make-shift tents. Picking up where she left off the day before, Azeeza moved from tent to tent under the scorching sun, speaking with families, identifying unvaccinated children, raising awareness about the importance of immunization, and sharing a list of all vaccination sites in the area.
Azeeza is one of 30 RI mobilizers working across the Gaza Strip to increase awareness, build trust, and connect families to life-saving vaccines. In just the last six weeks, these mobilizers have reached more than 106,000 people—56,000 women and 50,000 men—and directly contributed to increasing the number of children receiving their essential routine immunizations.
Fatima tenderly stroked baby Misk’s soft hairs as she thanked the mobilizer and the health workers. The vaccination teams have also praised Gaza’s community mobilizers for going the extra mile to ensure that no child misses out on life-saving childhood immunization.
Thanks to their tireless work, every child in Gaza has a better chance of a healthy start in life. This intervention is generously funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
