Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan will launch the Pulse Polio Immunisation Programme in the state on Sunday at Raj Bhavan premises in Vijayawada.

As per an official release the Governor will administer polio drops to children below the age of five years," as per an official press release. Nearly 53 lakh children in the age group of 0 - 5 years will be targeted in the immunisation drive across the State of AP. The vaccination programme that is to begin tomorrow will run for three days and come to an end on February 2. According to media reports, the COVID-19 vaccination drive may be put on hold for the three days of the polio immunisation programme.

Nearly 1.5 lakh vaccinators will inoculate children at 37,493 booths in AP. Likewise, 74,987 house-to-house teams will be deployed, including 1,354 mobile teams for high-risk areas. The state currently has nearly 66.95 lakh polio vaccine doses in stock.

According to reports, the last polio case from the southern state was reported from Samarlakota town in East Godavari district on July 16, 2008. While the COVID-19 vaccination started on January 16, the National Immunisation Day (NID), commonly known as Pulse Polio Immunisation programme, was scheduled for January 17 across India.

Since it was clashing with the COVID vaccination drive it was decided to postpone the scheduled Polio NID (National Immunisation Day) round from January 17, 2021 till further notice and was finally rescheduled to January 31 across the country.

The Polio National Immunisation Day or 'Polio Ravivaar' has been rescheduled to Jan 31 this year.

In view of the scheduled roll-out of #COVID19vaccine on Jan 16, this decision has been taken to ensure smooth operations of both COVID & non-COVID essential health services. pic.twitter.com/GQ1A2voPhz
— Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) January 15, 2021

President Ram Nath Kovind will be launching the National Polio Immunisation programme tomorrow by administering polio drops to some children at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The Polio drive will have adhere to the COVID-19 protocols and guidelines where wearing masks, social distancing, and hand hygiene during the drive will be mandatory.