63,206 children get polio drops

Tribune News Service

Mohali, June 16

As many as 63,206 children in Mohali district were immunised on the first day of the three-day pulse polio vaccination drive today.

The target is to administer drops to more than 1.45 lakh children in the age group of 0-5 years.

District immunisation officer Veena Zarewal said 44 per cent of the target was achieved today. As many as 1,208 teams, including 1,067 teams that went from house to house, were constituted across the district.

As part of the vaccination campaign, health workers are visiting houses, railway stations, bus stands, brick-kilns and slums. “A total of 2,420 vaccinators have been pressed into service. The teams include ANMs, ASHA workers, Aanganwari workers and students from nursing colleges. To make sure that all children are immunised, 122 supervisors will carry out checks at various places,” Dr Zarewal said.

Earlier, acting Civil Surgeon Dr Kuldeep Singh launched the drive by administering polio drops to children below five years of age at the Community Health Centre in Banur. He appealed to the people to get their children vaccinated even if a child is born only a few hours ago or is suffering from cough, cold, fever, diarrhea or any other disorder.

He said though the country was already polio-free, the vaccination was must to sustain polio eradication. The last reported cases of wild polio in India were in West Bengal and Gujrat in January 2011. On March 27, 2014, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had declared India a polio-free country.