NEW DELHI: Pending since 2020, the vaccination against Measles and Rubella (MR) in children will finally start next month, officials from the health department said. The officials said that the immunization drive for children, aged between nine months and 5 years in age, will start on February 6 and will be conducted for four weeks across the city.
The department has estimated that around 11 lakh children will be eligible for the vaccination drive. The planned immunization will be a third dose ‘over and above’ the routine vaccination against MR. Officials said the need for it emerged after the gap came in routine vaccination during the pandemic years, which has led to a rise in cases of the diseases.
“Vaccination were suspended since the nationwide lockdown. However, when the situation improved, we observed that many parents still did not come forward for the routine doses. It has led to a rise in cases. That’s why we planned an ‘over and above dose’ for all children (under targeted age group) to control the surge,” a senior government official said. According to the National Immunisation Schedule (NIS), the first dose of the MR vaccine is given when an infant becomes nine months old. The second dose is given to a child when he or she completes 16 months of age.
The district administrations in the city have prepared a campaign to cover the maximum number of the targeted population eligible for the MR vaccination.“All dispensaries have been told to provide vaccination to vulnerable children. Meanwhile, an outreach program for immunization will be run by the Anganwadi workers of the area,” an official from the North East (NE) district said.
“Camps will be set up at different locations while door-to-door vaccination can also be provided in the locality,” he added. “After the campaign, a sweeping activity will also be conducted for those left out during the drive,” the official further added.
The National Health Mission has set a target of December 2023 to eliminate Measles and Rubella from the country. Out of 11, 10 districts of Delhi come under the medium-risk zone of the disease.Recently, a sharp surge of measles infections and related deaths was reported in Maharashtra, Kerala, Jharkhand, and Gujarat.