The Pulse Polio drive to cover nearly 2.43 lakh children below five years of age in Mysuru district was held on Sunday.
In all, 1,621 booths were opened in different parts of the district and 6,484 persons were deployed for the exercise which is part of a nation-wide drive. Though the WHO declared India a polio-free nation in 2014, the Pulse Polio immunisation programme is held to ensure that there is no recurrence of the disease and to maintain the polio-free status.
Mayor Tasneem inaugurated the drive in the city by administering polio drops to a few children at Jayanagar Community Hall. In Mysuru Urban, there were 330 booths to administer the drops apart from two mobile units. Children left out of the drive will be covered in a house-to-house campaign to be undertaken on Monday, according to officials from the District Health and Family Welfare Department.
An army of medical and para-medical staff and volunteers was deployed for the programme across the district. It included 338 supervisors and 6,484 vaccinators.
District Health Officer Venkatesh said the coverage was 91.7% in Mysuru Urban (as per statistics available at 7 p.m.) and 97% in rural areas and this was bound to increase. “The drive will continue for three more days and all children below five years will be covered,” he added.
The authorities also covered public places including malls, super markets, bus stands, railway station, places of tourist interest.
