In view of the upcoming large-scale Covid-19 vaccination drive, the central government has postponed the National Pulse Polio vaccination drive indefinitely.
India on Thursday rescheduled the National Immunisation Day, under which polio drops are administered to all children under the age of 5, to January 31 amid the countrywide rollout of Covid-19 vaccination drive on January 16.
Centre said in a statement, "In view of this world's largest (Covid-19) immunisation exercise, it has been decided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in consultation with the office of the President of India to reschedule the Polio vaccination day, also known as National Immunisation Day (NID) or 'Polio Ravivar' to January 31, 2021."
Prez Kovind to launch Polio National Immunisation Day on Jan 30
President Ram Nath Kovind will launch the Polio National Immunisation Day on 30th of January which is a Saturday by administering Polio drops to some children at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The decision is in keeping with the stated policy of the Health Ministry to ensure that COVID management and vaccination services, as well as non-COVID essential health services, proceed in tandem without adversely impacting each other.
On Saturday, the government is expecting to administer at least the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to all healthcare workers, estimated at one crore, over the next two months and start with frontline workers too.
"We should be able to complete three crore healthcare and frontline workers over next three months," an official was quoted as saying in a media report.
