Karnataka to immunize 62 lakh children in Pulse Polio drive starting June 28
Karnataka health authorities have finalized plans to launch a statewide Pulse Polio vaccination campaign on June 28 to immunize nearly 62 lakh children under the age of five. The initiative, which is part of the National Immunization Day, aims to protect children against the wild poliovirus and maintain India's polio-free status.
The campaign will utilize the bivalent Oral Polio Vaccine (bOPV), which protects against Type 1 and Type 3 poliovirus strains. On the first day of the drive, children will receive oral polio vaccine doses at designated booths. This will be followed by house-to-house visits over the next two to three days to ensure no child is missed.
Special attention will be given to high-risk areas, including migrant communities, urban slums, brick kilns, remote villages, and hilly regions. Health officials emphasized that every child under five, including newborns, must receive the vaccine, regardless of how many doses they have already received under routine immunization.
To execute the drive, the state has planned an extensive outreach operation. This includes setting up 36,076 vaccination booths, 988 mobile teams, and 2,125 transit teams. A total of 1,14,213 vaccinators and 7,197 supervisors will be deployed. Vaccination booths will also be established at railway stations, metro stations, airports, and seaports to reach traveling families.
India has maintained its polio-free status for more than 14 years, reporting its last case of wild poliovirus on January 13, 2011, in the Howrah district of West Bengal. However, health authorities continue intensive vaccination efforts because the risk of importation remains due to the circulation of wild poliovirus in neighboring countries. In 2026, Pakistan reported one case of wild poliovirus, while Afghanistan reported three cases.
Globally, poliovirus exists in three serotypes. Type 2 was declared eradicated globally by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2015, and Type 3 was certified eradicated in October 2019. Currently, all active wild poliovirus cases globally are caused by Type 1, which the bivalent vaccine targets alongside Type 3.
