KARACHI: Pakistan has vaccinated more than 10.6 million children in the first two days of a nationwide anti-polio campaign, health authorities said on Wednesday, as the country battles a resurgence of the virus that has already left 24 children paralyzed this year.
The weeklong campaign from Sept 1-9 is the country’s fourth drive of 2025 and aims to immunize 28.7 million children under five across 99 high-risk districts.
The National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) said the push was being conducted simultaneously with Afghanistan, the only other country where polio remains endemic.
“In the first two days of the campaign, 37 percent of children nationwide [from target of 28.7 million] have been vaccinated,” the NEOC said in a statement.
Vaccination rates so far include 23 percent in Punjab, 47 percent in Sindh, 41 percent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 49 percent in Balochistan, 44 percent in Islamabad, 59 percent in Gilgit-Baltistan and 65 percent in Azad Kashmir.
