Over 33 million children administered polio drops during immunization drive

ISLAMABAD: Over 33 million children were administered polio drops during the last concluded immunization drive in the country against the crippling disease, ARY NEWS reported on Monday.

According to details shared by the coordinator of the polio immunization programme, the drops were administered to children in 124 districts nationwide.

“225,000 frontline workers participated in the immunization drive while strictly abiding by the COVID SOPs,” the coordinator said and also lauded the public whose cooperation helped them in achieving the targets.

Lauding the results achieved during the polio immunization drive, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr. Faisal Sultan said that the provinces played a key role in helping to achieve the targets of the drive.

“We need more such successful drives for completely eliminating polio from the country,” he said.

It is pertinent to mention here that only a single polio case has been reported from the country in the ongoing year from Balochistan province.

The recent immunization campaign was launched by Prime Minister Imran Khan by administering oral poliovirus vaccines (OPV) to children in Islamabad on June 07.

He also chaired a session of the national task force for polio eradication where he was briefed over the emergency action plan to eradicate poliovirus from the country. He was informed that only one poliovirus case was reported in 2021 following the federal government’s efforts.

He added that a comprehensive national emergency action plan was devised to eradicate the poliovirus. The premier said that the federal and provincial governments are working together to implement the action plan.