26.5m children vaccinated in first four days of polio drive

More than 26.5 million children have been vaccinated against polio during the first four days of the ongoing sub-national immunization campaign in selected districts across the country, the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) said on Friday. The campaign, being conducted from September 21 to 27, is targeting approximately 31 million children under five years of age in selected districts. The NEOC said more than 273,000 polio workers were going door-to-door to administer polio drops to children during the campaign. In Punjab, around 7.511 million children have been vaccinated in the selected districts, while 9.41 million children have received polio drops in 30 selected districts of Sindh. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, more than 6.92 million children have been vaccinated in 37 selected districts, while over 2.093 million children have received the vaccine in 32 selected districts of Balochistan. In Islamabad, more than 441,000 children have been vaccinated, while approximately 140,000 children have received polio drops in two selected districts of Gilgit-Baltistan. The NEOC said the sub-national campaign continued for the fifth day in selected districts, urging parents and caregivers to ensure that every child under five receives two drops of the polio vaccine. 'Polio is an incurable disease, but it can be prevented through vaccination,' the NEOC said, urging the public to cooperate with polio workers visiting households. 'Polio workers are coming to your doorstep with a message of hope. Please cooperate with them,' it added.