While almost 550,000 children in Gaza received polio vaccines in the latest round of immunisations late last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) is hoping for the ceasefire to last to avoid a risk of the disease spreading, Al Jazeera reports.

The WHO carried out two rounds of vaccinations across Gaza in September and October last year. It said it managed to reach 95 of the target. However, six samples tested positive for the poliovirus in December and January.

“Good work was done last year and the level of protection for children is much higher than it was before we started,” Hamid Jafari, director of polio eradication at WHO, told Al Jazeera.

“But the virus is still being detected in the sewage samples. There were also small pockets of children where access could not be obtained. Now [that] people have moved back north, the worry is that this may give a boost for virus to start spreading again.

“We are hoping that this ceasefire actually lasts because this is not only about polio, it’s about survival of children and communities.”