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Pulse polio drive: On Day 1, 77% kids vaccinated in Pune city
PUNE At least 77 per cent of kids from Pune city got vaccinated under the central government’s pulse polio drive on the first day (Sunday)
PUNE At least 77 per cent of kids from Pune city got vaccinated under the central government’s pulse polio drive on the first day (Sunday).
The drive will continue for four days where the remaining kids would be covered through the door to door immunisation programme.
Within the city out of the targeted three lakh kids under the age of five who are eligible to get vaccinated, 235,817 got vaccinated. In addition to this, 6,147 kids above the age of five were also vaccinated against polio.
In the rural parts of the district out of the targeted 4.81 lakh kids under the age of five, 4.63 lakh or 96.3 per cent of the kids got vaccinated. Also, 5,463 kids above the age of five were inoculated on Sunday.
Dr Bhagwan Pawar, district health officer, said, “We vaccinated about 95 per cent of the kids last year which has been almost the same this year. In fact last year we vaccinated over 101 per cent of the kids by the end of the five days drive as we also cover kids of migrant labourers who work at the sugar factories.”
“This year despite the change in date and with such a short span of time available with us we were able to cover a good number as we sent out SMSes through ASHA workers. The remaining kids would be covered in the next four days,” he said.
A senior officer at Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) incharge of the immunisation said, “I do not remember the percentage of vaccination last year, but it was almost the same. Now the remaining kids would be covered through the door to door programme in fact more than 100 per cent of the targeted kids would be covered. The pandemic did not affect the turnout at the pulse polio drive.”
Every year the national pulse polio drive starts from January 17 which was postponed this year as the first phase of the national Covid-19 drive kick-started from January 16.
