Polio immunisation drive to be held on February 27

The immunisation drive against polio would be conducted on February 27, Health Minister Ma Subramanian said on Thursday, adding that 41,061 camps will be organised across Tamil Nadu. Chief Minister MK Stalin will inaugurate the programme in Teynampet on that day.

Noting that the State has not recorded any case of polio in nearly three decades, the Minister said the annual mass immunisation drive is crucial to keep it that way.

“There are no cases of polio in Tamil Nadu for 27 years, and the country has not had any polio case for 11 years. This is mainly due to the follow up of the polio immunisation schedule. Continuing that, polio immunisation programme will be held on February 27, during which 57.61 lakh children in the State aged up to 5 years will get the immunisation drops. Apart from 40,678 regular camps, 677 transit booths will be set up and 696 mobile booths will be part of the drive,” he said.

Besides these, 513 camps will be set up at private hospitals and even marriage halls throughout the State. Officials from State Immunisation Department said that around two lakh healthcare workers, including school teachers and other staff, would administer the vaccine doses.

The Minister added that though regular COVID vaccination camps would be organised as usual, the mega drive was postponed due to the polio immunisation programme this week.

Earlier, the Health Minister inspected the stock of Corbevax, the new vaccine against COVID that was dispatched by the Union government. The vaccine will be administered to children aged 12-17 years in the State.

“Of the 26 lakh doses allocated for Tamil Nadu, 3.89 doses were dispatched on Thursday. However, the vaccination programme for those aged 12-17 years will be started only after the Union government issues guidelines for it. The administration of the vaccines will follow the same procedure and duration as for those aged 15-18 years; we are awaiting the guidelines,” Subramanian said.

Of the 33.86 lakh children in the 15-18 age group, 82 per cent have been given first dose and 37.64 per cent have received both doses. In Tamil Nadu, 91 per cent people have received the first dose of and 72 per cent are fully vaccinated with both doses.

The Minister also handed over appointment orders to Joint Director of Health Services for the six new districts at the DMS complex on Thursday.