Bengaluru, 21 Dec

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman led the statewide Pulse Polio Immunisation drive on Sunday, reaffirming the government’s focus on child health and disease prevention.

While Siddaramaiah inaugurated the campaign at his official residence ‘Kaveri’ in Bengaluru along with Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao and Home Minister G Parameshwara, Sitharaman launched the drive in Kamalapura in Vijayanagara district, where she is attending a Chintan Shivir.

“Smt@nsitharaman launched the Polio Immunisation Drive in Kamalapura, Karnataka, reaffirming the Government’s commitment to safeguarding child health and ensuring a polio-free India,” a post on her ‘X’ account said.

The post added that children under five years of age were administered Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) drops, “reinforcing the collective effort to protect future generations through timely immunisation.”

According to the state health department, around 62.4 lakh children have been identified for vaccination during the current round.

“Under the routine immunization programme, every Child is given 5 doses of OPV (Oral Polio Vaccine) and 3 doses of IPV (inactivated injectable polio vaccine) and Government of Karnataka is committed that no child should miss these doses,” a government statement said.

Apart from government and private hospitals, special emphasis is being laid on reaching children in villages, hilly regions, brick kilns, slums, migrant settlements, farmhouses and urban poor localities. Vaccination booths have also been set up at railway stations, metro stations, airports and seaports to cover travelling populations.

The department has established 33,258 booths across the state and deployed 1,030 mobile teams, 2,096 transit teams, 1,13,115 vaccinators and 7,322 supervisors to ensure smooth implementation.

“All children below five years of age will be administered the oral polio vaccine on December 21, 2025,” the department said, urging parents not to skip the dose.

“Even if your child has received any number of doses of OPV before, it is very essential to immunise your child again during this round,” it added, while assuring that the vaccine is completely safe and cautioning people against false rumours.