ISLAMABAD: This year’s second nationwide polio campaign has missed its vaccination target of 45 million children by around 300,000, official data confirms on Monday.

However, more than 44.7m children under the age of five were vaccinated against polio during the week-long campaign, according to data released by the National Emer­gency Operations Centre (NEOC).

Pakistan reported 31 polio cases in 2025, while one case has been confirmed so far in 2026 from Sujawal, Sindh.

“Due to the tireless efforts of polio workers, the vaccine reached over 44.7m children across the country. In addition to polio drops, children were also administered Vita­min A supplements to help strengthen their immunity,” the NEOC said.

The provincial breakdown showed that over 23m children were vaccinated in Punjab, over 10.4m in Sindh, over 7.2m in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and over 2.6m in Baloc­histan. Meanwhile, over 441,000 children were vaccinated in Islamabad, over 292,000 in Gilgit-Baltistan and around 717,000 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The NEOC highlighted that the strong support and cooperation of parents and communities played a key role in the success of the campaign.

Speaking to Dawn, a polio expert, who wished to remain anonymous, said the number of children missed during the campaign was unsurprising as some were missed because they were travelling and others were cases of refusals.

“If accurate data has been provided, I believe that the latest campaign is an achievement; usually, polio drives miss 800,000 to 1m children during each nationwide campaign,” he said.

Pakistan is one of the last two countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic.

More than 44.3m children were vaccinated across the country during the first anti-polio campaign of the year held in February.

Around a million children were missed and 53,000 refusals were reported during the drive.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2026