LAHORE: Anticipating mass movement during Ramazan and Eid holidays Punjab has rolled out Eid vaccination plan to combat polio virus transmission. As part of the plan, Punjab will deploy polio teams on major exit and entry routes including bus stands, hospitals, shopping centres and railway stations.
The plan will remain in place for 20 days starting from March 22 till April 10, 2025. The decision to establish these “special transit points” was made to prevent the spread of the polio virus within the province and ensure it does not spread to other regions.
Adeel Tasawar, the Punjab EOC Coordinator, confirmed, “Transit polio teams will ensure that no child travels without receiving two drops of the oral polio vaccine.” This measure is particularly important given the anticipated mass movement of people between high-risk polio areas during the Eid holidays.
Special transit points have been set up in high-risk districts including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan, Faisalabad, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Sahiwal, Okara, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Attock, and Gujrat. These sites supplement the 23 permanent vaccination points already operating in these regions, which vaccinated over 2.2 million children in 2024 alone.
In addition, Chief Minister’s Focal Person on Polio, Ms Uzma Kardar, visited the Punjab Emergency Operations Centre on Thursday, where she received an update from the EOC Coordinator, Adeel Tasawar, and the core team. She was informed that the number of polio-affected districts has increased to 12, with intense virus circulation reported nationwide.
To ensure better performance in future campaigns, the EOC is holding review meetings with District Health Management Teams (DHMTs) in Lahore and Rawalpindi. Additional reviews are scheduled in other districts in the coming weeks.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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