Every day, thousands of local and international public health workers, community members, and volunteers on all sides of this conflict risk their lives to deliver basic services, including and especially immunization, to all Syrians. Photo credit: Tarik Jasarevic/WHO.3 February, Homs, Syria – The queue was already formed when three volunteer polio vaccinators arrived at ‘Mohammed El Durra’ school in Homs that was transformed last year into a shelter for over 500 displaced people. 

“This is the third time my two children are getting immunized here,” says Ms Mirvat Baraq, as men and women bring children under the age of five to receive drops of oral polio vaccine (OPV). In less than two hours, 120 children residing in the shelter were immunized yesterday, the first day of February's vaccination round. 

Supported by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, this is the fourth vaccination campaign across Syria since the outbreak of polio was confirmed last October. To date, 23 laboratory-confirmed cases have been reported by the Government.