THE Government has managed to vaccinate four million children against polio after the disease was reported in neighbouring Malawi and Mozambique.
Health Minister Sylvia Masebo said on Monday that the Government appreciated all parents and guardians for co-operating with vaccination officers as well as door-to-door to provide oral polio vaccine and vitamin A.
The Government launched the third polio vaccination exercise last week on August 11.
“I am pleased to announce that by yesterday August 13, 2022, we were able to administer vaccines to almost four million representing an 85 per cent coverage.
“I am comfortable that as we end the mop up campaign in two days, we would have reached out 100 percent target and so far Northern Province has reached the 100 percent target,” she said.
Ms Masebo said the Government was hopeful that as it updated it’s data base Luapula currently at 95 percent and North-western Province 91 percent might be close to the target.
She said the campaign would go a long way in ensuring the safety of the children, given the recent reports of wild polio virus in Malawi and Mozambique, which had now been shown to be genetically linked by genomic sequencing.
“This places our border districts particularly Refunsa and Luangwe districtsb at higher risk.
We have already directed heightened surveillance in all high-risk areas,” she said.
She urged the public to remain vigilant in reporting to the healthcare authorities any child who was presenting with sudden onset of paralysis.
