Hailakandi district achieves close to 100 per cent pulse polio vaccination

Hailakandi: 99.86 per cent children under five years of age were given polio drops across the district on the occasion of Intensified Pulse Polio Immunisation Programme. According to information revealed by the district health authorities, 1,02,270 children were vaccinated against the target of 1,02,409 with the percentage being a whopping 99.86 per cent.

The vaccination was done at 561 general booths, 17 transit booths and 17 institutional booths which were manned by vaccinators and supervisors. The booth activity was followed by house-to-house surveillance to identify and vaccinate children who missed getting vaccinated at the booths. Vaccination was also carried out by teams deployed at transit points, mela sites and market places to ensure no child missed the life-saving dose.

All measures were put in place during the three-day vaccination drive to ensure safety during the times of COVID-19 pandemic by maintaining coronavirus appropriate practices such as preventing overcrowding at booths, maintaining physical distance of two metres, wearing masks, washing hands and administering polio drops in well ventilated settings. The health authorities took all possible steps to strengthen routine immunization to ensure that no child suffers from a vaccine-preventable disease.

Deputy Commissioner, Megh Nidhi Dahal, who closely monitored the immunisation campaign, directed the officials of the Health department to ensure cent percent coverage and also asked for door-to-door survey to leave no child uncovered under the programme. It may be mentioned that India has been polio-free for a decade, with the last case of wild poliovirus detected on January 13, 2011. The country, however, continues to remain vigilant to prevent re-entry of poliovirus into the country from neighbouring countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. India conducts one nationwide National Immunisation Day (NID) and two Sub-National Immunisation Days (SNIDs) for polio every year to maintain population immunity against wild poliovirus and to sustain its polio-free status.