Egypt's Health minister: Over 13M children vaccinated against polio nationwide

CAIRO - 3 March 2020: Egypt Health Minister Hala Zayed announced that 13,606,696 children have been vaccinated as part of the national anti-polio campaign which kicked off on Sunday and runs till March 3.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Zayed said the number of vaccinated children represents 81.4 percent of the total number of those targeted, including 11,536 foreign children, the nationwide campaign targets 16.7 million children and covers both Egyptians and non-Egyptians residing in the country.

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 is 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 will also be vaccination points next to mosques, churches, clubs, markets and bus and car stops.

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.