Maharashtra govt to launch six-week vaccination campaign against measles, rubella diseases starting today

Mumbai: A six-week measles-rubella vaccination drive for children between the ages of nine months and 15 years will begin Tuesday in Maharashtra, state Health Minister Deepak Sawant said. He informed that 3.38 crore children will be covered in the campaign and MR vaccines will be provided free of cost at government hospitals and dispensaries. A 2016 report mentioned that 49,000 children died from measles infection annually in the country, of which 8000-10000 deaths took place in Maharashtra. Over 13.20 crore children have been administered the vaccine so far and 650 of them had reported side-effects, the report said. “The vaccine is safe and children will be kept under observation for an hour after they are administered it. The aim is to eliminate Measles and control Rubella by 2020,” Sawant told reporters.