Anti-polio campaign to kick off in Punjab from Aug 15

LAHORE: A polio vaccination drive will be carried out in different cities of Punjab province from August 15 to 19, according to the Punjab Primary and Secondary Health Care Department.

According to details, the Secretary Punjab Primary and Secondary Health Care Department, Captain (R) Muhammad Usman has written a letter to security coordination committee seeking security for polio vaccination teams.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), hand gloves and surgical masks will be provided to polio team for vaccination drive.

It is pertinent to mention here that the government of Pakistan resumed polio vaccination activities on July 20 with a campaign in selected districts after a four-month suspension of all vaccination activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Districts covered in the first round were Faisalabad, Attock, South Waziristan, and parts of Karachi and Quetta. Almost 800,000 children under the age of five vaccinated during the campaign.

It was learnt that the first polio immunization campaign in the country during COVID-19 pandemic has achieved desired results as 94 percent of the targeted children were administered polio drops during the drive.

The campaign came to an end in a peaceful manner without witnessing any violent incident as law enforcement authorities provided adequate security to the volunteers during the immunization process.

Read More: Polio immunization campaign achieves desired results in Pakistan

The Pakistan Polio Eradication programme had suspended all Polio related activities in the last week of March, except surveillance.