The 2022 National Immunization against Polio has started today, Thursday, September 01.
At the launch of the exercise, Dr. Mahama Asei Seini, the Deputy Minister of Health, reassured Ghanaians that the novel Oral Polio Virus Type 2 (nOPV2) vaccine was safe and effective, and urged parents to ensure that children under five were vaccinated against the disease.
He said that was necessary because Polio could only be prevented through vaccination.
Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a disabling and life-threatening disease caused by the poliovirus.
The virus spreads from person to person and can infect a person’s spinal cord, causing paralysis.
The four day vaccination exercise targeted at over six million children under five years, will be in two rounds, with the first round starting from September 1st -4th 2022, and the second commencing on October 6th -9th 2022.
It is expected to help stop local transmission of Poliovirus type 2, maintain a high population immunity, strengthen surveillance on Polio disease, and prevent further Polio outbreaks in the country.
Dr Seini said, so far, approximately 370 million doses of the new vaccine (tool) had been administered across 21 countries since the launch of the campaign in March 2021.
Consequently, countries using the vaccine have managed to stop the transmission of the Circulating Vaccine Derive Polio Virus type 2.
The Deputy Minister said the strategy for the vaccination exercise would be house to house.
He said some designated sites would also be visited to serve the target population and urged all caregivers to look out for the vaccination teams and ensure that their children were fully vaccinated.
The public is also encouraged to continue to observe improved personal hygiene and good sanitation practices to prevent polio transmission.
