The Health Department is planning to hold the yearly Pulse Polio immunisation drive in the State on January 17 though the COVID-19 situation is not fully under control.
According to sources, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare sent a circular to the State Principal Secretaries on November 19 saying the National Immunisation Day for polio for 2021 had been scheduled for January 17, when a bivalent oral polio vaccine would be administered to children below five years.
State officials were informed that micro-plans, a set of population-based components that are used to run health-care projects, would have to be revised soon. Awareness campaigns would have to be launched and health workers equipped in advance. The focus area would be migrants and those living in slums.
Some officials here, however, are cautious about the implications of the steps. “The COVID-19 situation is not yet fully under control. Experts have predicted a spurt in cases after the local body elections this month. In such a scenario, we are not sure if the plan to hold the Pulse Polio drive will be a wise move,” one official told The Hindu. He pointed out that States could postpone it by another couple of weeks.
Possibility of camps
The officials are also confused if it is possible to conduct big immunisation camps in public places like earlier. “Large gatherings are not advisable right now and bringing children there is risky as well. So will we have to visit houses wearing personal protection equipment to administer the vaccine,” another official asked.
The note by the Union Ministry had pointed out that “it has been nine years since the country reported a wild polio virus infection in 2011.” The risk of virus import from other countries and the emergence of vaccine-derived polio virus cases, however, warranted maintenance of immunity in the population. Against this backdrop, the India Expert Advisory Group on Polio had recommended in October that one round of vaccination be held next year.
The State Health Department here sent a circular to all district medical officers on December 1 to submit micro-plans by December 5.
