Crucial drops: Polio teams vaccinate 0.7m children

PESHAWAR: Around 0.7 million children below the age of five were immunised against the crippling poliovirus in a day-long vaccination drive held in the provincial capital on Sunday amid strict security and a ban on motorcycle riding. According to the focal person of the District Polio Control Room, Dr Saleem Khan, 4,260 vaccination teams administered oral polio drops to 0.7 million children.  He added 8,000 security personnel were deployed in the district to provide security to vaccinators and all immunisation teams made it back to the control room safely. However, an official of the health department requesting anonymity claimed that children in 10 union councils could not be vaccinated because of  a lack of polio teams. The official said 4,260 teams were constituted for the drive but some workers refused to take part over security concerns. The first polio case of 2015 was reported on Saturday in a nine-month-old girl from Tank district.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 19^th, 2015.