ISLAMABAD: This year’s first National Immunisation Days campaign successfully reached more than 43 million under-five children, as over 339,521 trained and dedicated polio workers inoculated children at their doorstep, showed official data released by the polio programme on Wednesday.

According to a statement, coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Centre on Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) Dr Shahzad Baig congratulated federal and provincial government leadership, frontline workers, parents, and caregivers, on playing an instrumental role in vaccinating eligible children during the campaign.

“I extend my sincere thanks to the parents and provincial governments for successfully implementing the campaign. We have completed more than a year without any reported case. However, the wild poliovirus is still active in certain parts of the country, posing a threat to the already achieved gain,” he said.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2022