KARACHI, Jan 10: The first national immunisation days of 2009 in the province will begin on Jan 12, during which about 4.4 million children under five years of age will be administered the oral poliovirus vaccines in 13 districts of Sindh, including Karachi.

The provincial manager of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation, Sindh, Dr Mazhar Khamesani, said the upcoming NIDs would be conducted in phases – the first spell of vaccination stretched over three days will end on January 14, while the second phase would be observed from Jan 19 to 21 in the case of another 2.2 million children.

He said senior officials of the health department would also be monitoring the activities to ensure quality of the supplementary immunisation campaigns.