Pakistan’s sub-national polio vaccination campaign entered its second day on Tuesday, with more than 6.683 million children vaccinated across 97 selected districts on the opening day, according to the National Emergency Operations Centre (EOC).
The week-long campaign, which began on November 2 and will continue until November 8, aims to vaccinate approximately 24 million children under the age of five against the crippling disease.
More than 200,000 polio workers have been deployed across the country to administer vaccine drops to children through door-to-door visits.
According to the National EOC, more than 2.502 million children received polio drops in 13 selected districts of Punjab on the first day of the campaign.
In Sindh, over 1.972 million children were vaccinated across 20 districts, while 1.372 million children received the vaccine in 27 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
In Balochistan, vaccination teams administered polio drops to more than 572,000 children in 31 selected districts.
The campaign also covered Islamabad, where over 148,000 children were vaccinated on the first day. In Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), more than 49,000 children received polio drops in three selected districts, while over 66,000 children were vaccinated in two districts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
The National EOC has urged parents to cooperate with vaccination teams visiting their homes and ensure that every child below the age of five receives polio drops during the campaign.
It said polio was an incurable disease that could cause permanent paralysis, but children could be protected through timely vaccination.
Parents seeking information or assistance regarding vaccination teams can contact the national polio helpline at 1166 or send a WhatsApp message to 0346-7776546.
