Week-long injectable polio vaccine drive starts today

The first phase of the injectable IPV (inactivated polio vaccine) campaign, set to be carried out in selected districts of Sindh, will be launched today by the provincial Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) for polio. The week-long drive would end on February 21. 

The anti-polio drive will be conducted in 136 union councils of Karachi as well as Thatta, Badin, Sajawal and Tando Muhammad Khan. This measure is being taken to protect children from the polio virus and is a special intervention in addition to the oral polio vaccine (OPV) campaigns which are critical to interrupt the circulation of the virus circulation in the country. 

A total of 20 cases were reported in Pakistan last year, out of which two cases each were reported from Sajawal and Badin in the last four months of 2016, prompting the authorities to take extra measures to keep children in these areas safe from the paralysing virus.

"There are two major factors for launching the IPV campaign in these particular areas - malnutrition and low routine immunisation" said Fayaz Jatoi, head of Sindh EOC. 

He said malnourished children have low immunity; hence, it is important to give them an extra dose to save them from the virus. 

In Karachi, the campaign is aimed at administering vaccine to 357,629 children, aged 23 months to four years; while 260,285 children will be vaccinated in Thatta, Badin, Sajawal and Tando Mohammad Khan. 

In addition to IPV, 465,801 children up to two years of age will also be administered the OPV, in Karachi, and 320,581 children will receive the oral polio vaccine in Thatta, Badin, Sajawal and Tando Mohammad Khan. 

Jatoi informed that the injectable vaccine is an extra intervention taken to boost children’s immunity but does not replace the oral vaccine. He urged parents to cooperate and ensure getting their children administered the polio drops, despite the injectable vaccine. 

He said the IPV alone does not induce the same level of intestinal immunity as OPV. Thus, while individuals given the IPV alone are protected against paralysis, they can still excrete the virus which can easily infect others.