UNICEF said more than nine million children would be vaccinated against poliovirus in the first round of a massive campaign in four countries in East and South Africa after the outbreak was confirmed in Malawi.
The rollout of the vaccine took place last month after it was confirmed that a 3-year-old girl was paralyzed by wild poliovirus in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe.
“This is the first case of wild polio in Africa in more than five years, and UNICEF is working with governments and partners to do everything possible to contain the virus,” said Mohamed M. Faul, UNICEF Eastern Regional Director can go.” and Southern Africa.
UNICEF, the World Health Organization and other partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative are leading the campaign launched in Malawi on Sunday and will be followed up with campaigns starting in neighboring Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia on Thursday.
According to UNICEF, there will be more rounds of vaccinations in the coming months, covering more than 20 million children.
UNICEF said the mass vaccination would also target children who were previously vaccinated.
Rudolf Schwenk, UNICEF representative in Malawi, says, “We need to vaccinate children who have been previously vaccinated because it takes multiple doses of polio doses to be fully immunized against polio and every additional The supplements provide additional protection to children.”
UNICEF has procured more than 36 million doses of polio vaccine for the first two rounds of immunization of children in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia.
