Madurai: As many as 3.08 lakh children are to be covered under the second phase of pulse polio vaccination drive at Madurai city as the vaccination drive commenced on Sunday. State cooperatives minister Sellur K Raju inaugurated the drive at Palanganatham government maternity hospital in the presence of district collector K Veera Raghava Rao and corporation commissioner Aneesh Sekhar. State revenue and disaster management minister R B Udhayakumar inaugurated the camp at Alanganallur government hospital in the meantime.
According to statement from district administration, 3,08,177 children will be covered with special focus on covering children of refugees, workers in brick kiln and gypsy communities. As many as 7,412 employees including 1,167 from health department, 2,490 from noon meal scheme and 85 from NGOs are deployed for vaccination.
Madurai city corporation officials said that 1,43,213 children in Madurai district are in city limits. The civic body has deployed 1,848 workers for the task. The vaccination is undertaken in 462 centres in city limits alone, corporation officials said.
Meanwhile, around 5.63 lakh children aged below five-years will be covered in the second phase of pulse polio vaccination in Tirunelveli region. In Tirunelveli district, collector Sandeep Nanduri said that around 2.64 lakh children will be covered in the drive that was conducted at 1,800 centres.
The collector said that around 7,000 government staff and volunteers were engaged in the drive. It included 1,12,889 children covered in 809 centres in Sankarankovil health district. Adi dravida and tribal welfare minister V M Rajalakshmi participated in the vaccination drive at the district headquarters hospital in Tenkasi. In Tuticorin, district collector N Venkatesh kick-started the vaccination drive at Tuticorin Medical College and Hospital.
District collector Prashant M Wadnere inaugurated the drive in Kanyakumari district by administering the drops to a child at the Asaripallam Government Medical College Hospital.
