LAHORE – A countrywide polio campaign has begun in Pakistan today (Monday) and go on till September 25 (Friday).
This is the first nationwide campaign in the country after its four-month suspension due to COVID-19 outbreak during which 40 million children below five years of age will be administered the anti-polio vaccine, according to a Radio Pakistan report.
The scope of this campaign is much larger and seeks to vaccinate all children through door-to-door visits by almost 270,000 vaccinators all over the country.
The polio vaccinators have received comprehensive training on how to vaccinate safely within the COVID-19 context.
The anti-polio campaign volunteers would go door-to-door to vaccinate children. Special care would be taken in light of the coronavirus-related SOPs.
Nationwide polio vaccination campaign starts today. Aiming to vaccinate 40 million children. A team of 275,000 persons will make this happen. A request to parents and caregivers to cooperate with the teams to work towards a polio free Pakistan
— Faisal Sultan (@fslsltn) September 21, 2020
The anti-polio drive across Balochistan started today in Quetta, according to the EOC for polio eradication in the province, with the campaign aiming to vaccinate 2.5 million children.
On the other hand, the spokesperson for the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme in Punjab said the five-day anti-polio drive would run from September 21 to 25 in the province.
The virus is spreading to major cities due to a prolonged gap in the anti-polio campaign when it was suspended earlier due to the coronavirus pandemic, the spokesperson explained.
The campaign’s target was to vaccinate over 20 million children against polio, they added, noting that a monthly anti-polio drive would help stop the spread of the virus.
