CAIRO – 13 December 2021: Egypt’s Ministry of Health and Population will launch the national polio vaccination campaign on Sunday, December 19.
The vaccination campaign expected to last for 4 days, in order to raise the societal immunity of all children from the age of one to five years.
The campaign aims to vaccinate 16.5 million children.
The official spokesman for the Ministry of Health, Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, explained that the campaign is totally free of charge and aims at protecting children from polio, which considered to be a highly contagious disease that causes lifelong disability.
Last February, Egypt’s Ministry of Health launched on a national vaccination campaign against polio nationwide for Egyptian and non-Egyptian children, who are one day to 5 years old.
The campaign lasted until March 3, 2021 and targeted 16.7 million children for free.
The campaign is carried out annually to keep Egypt free of disease, within the framework of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi's vision to promote public health and achieve sustainable development goals.
The vaccination will be given in health offices, units, health centers, major squares, train and subway stations, and near mosques, churches, clubs, markets, bus and car stops.
Last year, the Ministry of Health 2020 campaign targeted 16.5 million Egyptian and foreign children.
Many countries have succeeded in eradicating the disease by vaccinating children under five years old. 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.
This was due to the extensive vaccination coverage in all the governorates of Egypt through seven doses within the schedule of routine immunizations and the additional doses through periodic national campaigns.
The global strategy in polio eradication recommends introducing an additional dose via injection to the dose of oral vaccination in the fourth month, the remaining six doses to remain oral.
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