Pakistan 'decides' to launch polio vaccination injection campaign

ISLAMABAD: The government of Pakistan has decided to administer inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) injections to children up to 15 years old in an effort to combat the polio virus, ARY News reported citing sources.

According to sources, the initiative, driven by recommendations from global anti-polio organizations, will target children in Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar during a special campaign over the next four months.

The IPV injections, acting as a booster, aim to significantly enhance immunity against polio, particularly amid concerns over weakened immunity contributing to the spread of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1).

The campaign, set to begin with a phased rollout, will see children vaccinated in a single day per phase to boost their immune response.

The Technical Advisory Group (TAG), a global panel of polio experts for Pakistan and Afghanistan, recommended the IPV campaign during a meeting in Islamabad last week. Vaccines for the initiative will be provided by international organizations, ensuring a robust response to curb the virus’s spread.

Earlier, it was reported that Pakistan has witnessed over 60,000 polio vaccine refusal cases during the anti-polio drive held from April 21 to 27, 2025.

During Pakistan’s second nationwide polio eradication campaign held from April 21 to 27, 2025, a total of 60,906 cases of polio vaccine refusal were reported.

The highest number of refusals came from Sindh, where 39,073 cases were recorded — over 37,000 of them from Karachi alone.

Balochistan also reported over 3,500 cases of polio vaccine refusal. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the polio vaccine refusal rate was reported at 0.4%.

Cases of parental refusal to the anti-polio vaccine were also documented in Punjab and Islamabad.

Authorities remain concerned about vaccine hesitancy, which continues to pose a significant threat to polio eradication efforts in the country