Govt to launch polio vaccination injection campaign

LAHORE: The Pakistan government has made up its mind to provide inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) injections to children under 15 years of age in a bid to root out the polio virus.

As per sources, the move, prompted by advice from international anti-polio organizations, will be aimed at children in Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar in a special campaign over the course of the next four months.

The IPV injections, being a booster, are expected to greatly increase immunity against polio, especially in the wake of fears that compromised immunity is responsible for the circulation of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1).

The campaign, which will commence with phased implementation, will have children immunized in one day for each phase to enhance their immunity.

The Technical Advisory Group (TAG), an international panel of polio experts for Pakistan and Afghanistan, suggested the IPV campaign in a recent meeting in Islamabad. International organizations will supply the vaccines for the initiative to provide a strong response to stop the virus from spreading.

Previously, it was indicated that Pakistan has seen more than 60,000 refusals of polio vaccine cases during the anti-polio campaign conducted between April 21 to 27, 2025.

In Pakistan’s second countrywide polio eradication drive conducted between April 21 to 27, 2025, 60,906 refusals of polio vaccine were reported.

The largest number of refusals originated from Sindh, 39,073 cases of which were reported, more than 37,000 of those from Karachi alone.

Polio vaccine refusal cases were also reported by Balochistan in excess of 3,500. The refusal rate for the polio vaccine was reported at 0.4% by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Parental refusal to the anti-polio vaccine was also reported in Punjab and Islamabad. The authorities are still worried about vaccine hesitance, which still ranks high as a threat to eradicating polio from the country