Sri Vijaya Puram, Dec. 21: A&N Islands observed National Immunization Day for Polio in the entire Union Territory today. A total of 489 fixed booths were established. Arrangements were made to cover the children at Bus Terminals, and Sea Port. Arrangements were also made to cover the children travelling by Inter Island Vessels as well as at Veer Savarkar International, Airport, Sri Vijaya Puram. In A&N Islands, out of 20666 children, 20647 children in the age group of 0-5 years were administered the Polio vaccine on 1st day, which includes Sri Vijaya Puram and Defence area. The district-wise coverage is given below.
South Andaman: (Estimation) 14081, (Coverage) 14016, (Percentage) 99.5
North & Middle Andaman (Estimation) 4570, (Coverage) 4620, (Percentage) 101.09
Nicobar: (Estimation) 2015, (Coverage) 2011, (Percentage) 99.8
Total: (Estimation) 20666, (Coverage) 20647, (Percentage) 99.91
A total 99.9% has been covered on 1st day, this will follow two days of the house-to-house visit on 22nd and 23rd December, 2025. Private practitioners of these Islands also actively participated in making the National Immunization Day for Polio a grand success.
Meanwhile, the State-level inaugural ceremony for the National Immunization Day (NID) for Pulse Polio Immunization was organized at UHC Junglighat today. The programme was inaugurated with the administration of the first drop of Oral Polio Vaccine (bOPV) by Ms. Richa, Secretary (Health) / Mission Director–UTHM, who graced the occasion as the chief guest. Addressing the gathering, the Secretary (Health) / Mission Director–UTHM appealed to the general public to actively participate in the National Programme and ensure that all children in the age group of 0–5 years are administered the Oral Polio Vaccine by visiting their nearest polio booths.
Dr. H. M. Siddaraju, Director of Health Services, attended the programme as the guest of honour, along with Dr. Avijit Roy, Deputy Director (Health) / State Immunization Officer, and other officials of the Directorate of Health Services (DHS).