1st round of polio vaccination today; govt targets 65L kids

The state government aims to immunise 65 lakh children against polio this year.

The immunisation programme will be conducted in two rounds: on January 28 and March 11. The government has set up 32,437 polio vaccination booths.

There are 1,03,944 vaccinators, 51,972 teams in charge of vaccination, 6,546 supervisors, 941 mobile teams and 1,749 transit teams, the Department of Health and Family Welfare said in a statement.

ASHA workers, anganwadi staff and other health volunteers will be conducting a house-to-house visit for vaccination, said Dr Nagalakshmi, the deputy director of immunisation in the department. The target (65 lakh children) was arrived at following a head count, she added.

Every child aged under five will be given two drops of oral polio vaccine during the drive. "In some parts of Karnataka like Yadgir, migrant communities are resisting the vaccination," Dr Nagalakshmi said.

While there has not been a single case of polio in India in the past seven years, the prevalence of poliovirus in Pakistan and Afghanistan make the country prone to the disease, according to the department.