Uganda’s Ministry of Health has launched the second round of Polio Vaccination in the eastern part of the country after the virus outbreak was reported in May this year.
During the four-day door-to-door vaccination campaign, health workers are visiting all homes in 49 districts to administer two drops of the free polio vaccine, the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry last month conducted the first round of the polio vaccination campaign after a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) was confirmed in May from a sewage plant in Doko of Mbale District in eastern Uganda.
The immunization campaign targeting 2.7 million children under five years old is aimed at stopping the spread of the disease and is part of the global polio eradication initiative supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) together with the United Nations Children’s Fund.
Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus transmitted through the fecal-oral route and aerosol droplets, which mainly affects children under five years of age, according to the WHO.
In the messages issued by authorities, the Ministry of Health continues to urge parents and caregivers to collaborate with health officials to ensure that their children get a dose of the life-saving vaccine. The Ministry of Health also notes that the vaccines used are safe, effective and free.
