India will kickstart the 3-day lengthy Pulse polio immunization marketing campaign from Sunday, thirty first January. The drive will cowl youngsters as much as 5 years of age to maintain the illnesses away. India may even observe Nationwide Polio Immunisation Day in the present day.
The countrywide immunisation programme was earlier scheduled to start out from 17 January, nevertheless, it was postponed because of the COVID-19 vaccination drive which began on 16 January.
“With the countrywide Covid-19 vaccination drive scheduled to be rolled out on 16 January, the MoHFW in session with the workplace of President of India has rescheduled the Polio vaccination day to 31 January 2021,” the Authorities of India had knowledgeable earlier.
On the eve of Polio Innumisation day, President Ram Nath Kovind launched the marketing campaign by administering polio drops to some youngsters on the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Union Well being Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and Minister of State for Well being Ashwini Kumar Choubey had been additionally current throughout the launch of the primary spherical of drive.
Considering the Covid 19 situation in the country, the Polio immunisation drive will follow all the necessary guidelines to keep the children safe, and therefore, there will be mandatory masks, social distancing, and hand hygiene during the drive. The government has advised senior citizens to not go to the immunisation camps with children due to the risks involved because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Union health ministry aims to administer polio drops to 17 crore children in the targeted age group to maintain the polio-free status of the country. Healthcare workers will visit two crore households to ensure that no child is left without the protection of the polio vaccine.
The three-day polio vaccination drive will continue till 2nd February.
According to a report on polioeradication.org, India constituted over 60 percent of all global polio cases as recently as 2009, however, India was “officially declared polio-free in 2014, along with the rest of the South-East Asia Region”.