24.1m children vaccinated against polio in three days

Around 24.1 million children have been administered polio vaccine during the first three days of the ongoing special anti-polio campaign in selected districts across the country, the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) said on Thursday. The campaign, being conducted from September 21 to 27, is targeting around 31 million children under five years of age, with 273,000 polio workers going door-to-door to administer the life-saving vaccine. According to the NEOC, approximately 6.786 million children have been vaccinated in selected districts of Punjab, while 8.598 million children have received polio drops in 30 selected districts of Sindh. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, around 6.355 million children have been vaccinated across 37 selected districts, while more than 1.841 million children have received polio drops in 32 selected districts of Balochistan. In Islamabad, more than 408,000 children have been administered polio vaccine, while around 125,000 children have been vaccinated in two selected districts of Gilgit-Baltistan. The NEOC urged parents and caregivers to ensure that every child under five years of age receives polio drops during the campaign. '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.