The three-day polio vaccination drive will begin on Sunday, under which 17 crore children, under the age of five years, will be given polio drops, ANI reported, quoting Health Ministry’s release. The immunisation campaign is being launched on National Immunisation Day. 

President Ram Nath Kovind launched on Saturday the first round of the Pulse Polio Programme for 2021 on the eve of the National
Immunisation Day, giving polio drops to children below the age of five years.

Also read: Pentagon puts halt to plan of giving COVID vaccine to Guantanamo prisoners

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and Minister
of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey too were present for the occasion.

The polio immunisation drive, earlier scheduled to
start from January 16, was postponed till January 31 due to the COVID-19 vaccination
drive. It will be supported by about 24 lakh volunteers, 1.5 lakh supervisors,
as well as multiple Civil Society Organisations (CSO), the World Health
Organisation (WHO), and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency
Fund (UNICEF).

Almost two crore households would be visited by
healthcare workers to ensure that no child is left without getting immunised.

Also read: Germany mulling legal action on vaccine makers over delivery delays

Highlighting the success of the drive, Union Health
Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan stated that before the initiation of the program India
had almost 60% of all cases recorded worldwide, and officially achieved the status
of a polio-free country a decade back, with the last recorded case being
spotted in West Bengal’s Howrah on January 13, 2011.

The immunisation drive will be held in accordance to
COVID-19 safety guidelines currently in effect.