Five-day nationwide polio vaccination drive begins today

ISLAMABAD: A five-day polio immunisation drive has commenced across Pakistan today during which over 40.1 million children will be administered oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) to prevent children from the crippling disease, ARY News reported on Friday.

The first anti-polio drive of 2021 has begun across the country which would be continued till January 15 including three days of vaccination and two days of catch-up activities in high-risk areas.

The neighbouring country of Afghanistan is also beginning its anti-polio drive from today.

During the ongoing campaign, 20.1 million children under five years age will be vaccinated in Punjab, 9.2 million in Sindh, 7.1 million in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 2.5 million in Balochistan, 7 million in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and 240,000 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).

Read: IDB approves US$60 bn for polio vaccination in Pakistan

Moreover, the children aged between 6 months to five years will also be administered Vitamin A drops in order to boost their immunity of the organism.

285,000 health workers are taking part in the national polio immunisation campaign which includes 28,000 area in-charges and 8,700 UCMOs.

222,000 mobile members, 10,500 fixed and 12,000 transit team members will be deployed to run the campaign, moreover, mobile polio vaccination teams will visit far-flung areas of Balochistan and KP provinces.

Prior to launching anti-polio drive this year, the health workers had been given special training regarding standard operating procedures (SOPs) to prevent themselves from contracting novel coronavirus.