In pictures: Egypt’s nationwide polio vaccination campaign extended until 5 March

CAIRO – 4 March 2021: Egypt’s Health Ministry on Thursday decided to extend its four-day polio vaccination campaign nationwide until 5 March, after vaccinating more than 98 percent of the targeted children.

The campaign, to date, could vaccinate more than 16.4 million children under the age of five, representing 98.2 percent of the targeted children. This included more than 17,000 non-Egyptian children.

The campaign, which started on February 28 was set to end at 5 PM on Wednesday, before the recent extension.

The annual vaccination program aims to raise community immunity against the disease, and acts as a pre-emptive step in conjunction with polio outbreaks in a number of neighboring countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Vaccination has been done through fixed teams in more than 5,400 health offices and units, and medical centers, in addition to mobile teams in major squares and train and subway stations.

There have been also be vaccination points next to mosques, churches, clubs, markets and bus and car stops.

Egypt joined the list in 2006 with the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF declaring that it was polio-free after the last case was discovered in 2004.