Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy will launch a Statewide polio immunisation drive on January 19, under which 52.30 lakh children below five years of age will be administered polio drops.
The CM will launch the immunisation drive at his Tadepalli camp office at 10.45 a.m. on Sunday.
National Health Mission, A.P., Programme Manager K. Appa Rao told The Hindu that 1.50 lakh health personnel and volunteers have been deployed to administer the polio drops at 37,493 booths across the State.
The volunteers will go door-to-door from January 20 to 22 to ensure that every child is vaccinated.
Personnel and volunteers have been trained to administer the oral polio vaccines jointly by the Women and Child Welfare, Municipal Administration, MEPMA, Power Supply, Panchayat Raj, Tribal Welfare, Transport and Education departments, Mr. Appa Rao said.
65.75 lakh doses
As many as 65.75 lakh bivalent Oral Polio Vaccine (bOPV) doses have been stocked for the four-day drive. Altogether 1,354 mobile teams would cover high-risk areas (where there are migrants from different States and regions), railway stations, bus stands and children on the move with their parents.
According to a preliminary survey, 93,430 children have been identified at vulnerable locations (slums, construction sites, locations where migratory agriculture and fishermen community reside).
Andhra Pradesh has been polio-free for the past eleven years. The last polio case in Andhra Pradesh was reported in East Godavari in July 2008. The State has maintained international standards of polio surveillance for over 20 years, Mr. Appa Rao said.
Misconceptions
Some parents were found to be deliberately not vaccinating their newborns because of misplaced fears, Mr. Appa Rao said. He added that such fears have no place in today’s society and urged parents to vaccinate their children without fail.
