Three-day pulse polio vaccination drive across India to start from 10 March: Centre postponed 3 Feb event due to lack of vaccines

The government on Sunday will launch a three-day pulse polio immunisation drive (IPPI), where vaccinations will be administered to children under five years of age across the nation. The drive was originally scheduled for 3 February, but was “indefinitely postponed”. On 18 January, a letter was issued to the Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare of all states barring Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala. The Centre had cited “some unavoidable circumstances” to postpone the campaign. According to The Print, the drive was postponed because of a paucity of vaccines. The Centre has since denied reports of the shortage of vaccines, Scroll reported. Maharashtra In Maharashtra, the oral vaccine will be administered to around 1,21,98,000 children. As many as 82,719 polio booths will be set up in the state for the vaccination drive, a statement from the health department said. The government has appointed 2,19,313 staff members and 16,548 supervisors for the drive under which nearly 2,92,19,543 homes will be covered, the statement said. [caption id=“attachment_2835828” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] As many as 13,927 mobile teams will also remain active throughout the day as part of the drive, it added. Last year, 1.20 crore children were covered under the drive and the government achieved 99.7 percent target, Health Minister Eknath Shinde said. He has directed health officials to conduct a mass- awareness campaign about the drive. Tamil Nadu Meanwhile, in Tamil Nadu, government has set up 43,051 booths in all Primary Health Centres, Government Hospitals, Integrated Child Development Scheme Centres, Noon Meal centres, schools and other important places, The New Indian Express reported. As per a report from The Times of India, About two lakh personnel from the health, Integrated Child Development Services, education and other government departments and volunteers have been roped in for the campaign, which is supported by UNICEF, WHO and Rotary International. As per the report, the state has set up transit booths,  in addition to 1,000 mobile teams for children living in remote, inaccessible and migrant areas. For commuters and tourists, 1,652 transit booths will be functioning in major bus stands, railway stations, toll plazas, check-posts and airports during the campaign days. Andhra Pradesh The District Medical and Health Office (DMHO) in Andhra Pradesh is expecting to vaccinate 4,63,234 children. As per a report from The New Indian Express, the vaccination will be administered in booths on Sunday, and a door-to-door drive will be taken up on the second and third days. Officials said 3,866 booths would be set under the supervision of 387 officials. Around 7,470 medical and paramedical staff, 5,546 Anganwadi workers and 4,651 Aashaa workers will be involved in the campaign, the report said. Karnataka The Times of India reported that the Karnataka government aims to cover 64,85,980 children aged below five. There are 32,737 booths, 51,972 teams along with 1,03,944 vaccinators, 6,546 supervisors, 2,481 mobile teams and 4,300 transit teams working for this year’s pulse polio drive. Tourists, commuters and those in transit can visit vaccination booths at railway stations, bus stops and the airport as well,   The Hindu reported. In the state’s Dakshin Kannada district, The Times of India reported that a total of 1,49,562 children will be covered. A total of 68,521 children will be covered in Mangaluru taluk alone, followed by 30,763 in Bantwal, 20,836 children in Puttur, 19,965 in Belthangady and 9,477 children in Sullia, the newspaper reported. In efforts for parents to locate the nearest polio booth to them, Health Minister Shivanand Patil has launched the Nearby Vaccination Centre Karnataka mobile application. “It is also enabled with information on polio vaccination date and time,” The Times of India quoted Patil as saying. Rajasthan As per a report from Udaipur Kiran, nearly 1,70, 076 vaccinators and 8,410 supervisors have been deployed in Rajasthan. The drive in Jaipur will go on for four days, the report said. Project Director Vaccination Dr S Garg said that the last polio case in Rajasthan was found in Bharatpur and Dausa district in November 2009. Gurugram Around 3.5 lakh children below the age of five will be administered the vaccine in Gurugram, Hindustan Times reported. According to the report, 1,267 booths will be set up in different areas in the district. The drive will cover 10 primary health centres (PHCs) and 18 urban primary health centres (UPHCs). In addition, a door-to-door awareness drive will be conducted on Monday.  More than 100 mobile teams of vaccinators and supervisors have been deployed, the newspaper reported. “The focus is on clusters and remote areas ,” Dr MP Singh, district urban nodal officer, said. Jalandhar As many as 2.46 lakh children will be administered pulse polio drops in Jalandhar, The Tribune reported. The newspaper quoted a civil surgeon, Dr Rajesh Bagga, as saying that the three-day polio drive will cover 165 brick kilns, 232 slum areas, 31 construction sites and other areas. He said that at least 1,076 booths will be set up in the district, including 592 in rural and 484 in urban areas. “A total of 81 mobile teams, including 49 in rural and 32 in urban areas have been constituted for the campaign and 23 transit teams for vaccination and 209 supervisory teams have also been constituted,” he said. This year, there will be only one round of the IPPI, The Hindu reported. The immunisation campaign is usually held in two phases every year. The decision on just one round was taken by the national technical advisory group on immunisation. India was officially declared polio-free by the World Health Organisation in 2014. The last case in India was registered in West Bengal in 2011. With inputs from agencies