First day of Pulse Polio campaign: Children vaccinated at booths in Mohali, Chandigarh

Earlier, the health department had appealed to city residents to get children between the ages of 0- 5 years immunised, preferably at the booths on the first day, to achieve 100 per cent coverage.

About 1,000 polio vaccination teams will vaccinate children across the city and 100 sector supervisors will monitor the entire process. Thirteen polio teams have been deployed at different transit points near borders with adjoining states.

During door-to-door activity under this campaign, which will be held on February 28 and March 1, the teams will work to ensure every child is administered polio drops.

Dr Srinivasan and Dr Shivani Gupta, WHO consultants, also attended the inaugural ceremony at Sukhna Lake. WHO has deployed independent monitors to supervise this polio vaccination drive.

The administration is also running the project “Taare Zameen Par- A Night Vigil”, to vaccinate children who accompany their parents to work during the day and halt at the various odd points of the city during the night. To carry out this night vigil, four teams have been deputed from 7 pm onwards, who will go to different parts of the city where homeless, nomads, rag pickers and beggars, among others, settle down with their children at night.

55,617 kids immunised in Mohali

A total of 55,617 children were vaccinated for polio in Mohali on Sunday, the Polio National Immunisation Day (NID), as part of a three-day immunisation drive. About 560 booths were set up at various places in the district.

The drive aims to administer polio drops to 1,59,830 children in the age group of 0-5 years. Vaccination teams will visit a total of 4,07,675 houses in the district to immunise children to polio. Mohali Civil Surgeon Dr Adarshpal Kaur Sunday said that around 35 per cent of the target population was achieved on the first day.

Dr Kaur said that as many as 1,248 teams, including 1083 house to house teams, have been constituted across the district. While the first day saw vaccination at booths, the last two days have been designated for house-to-house vaccinations. Health workers will also visit railway stations, bus stands, brick kilns and slums.