Zambia begins polio vaccination drive after outbreak in neighboring Malawi

By James Kunda

LUSAKA, Zambia (AA) – Zambia on Thursday kicked off a mass oral polio vaccination program targeting more than 3.5 million children below the age of five.

Zambia is one of five African nations to launch vaccination campaigns after an outbreak was reported in Malawi last month, with more than 23 million children expected to covered in the immunization drives.

Sheal Mulyata, the provincial minister for Lusaka province, said Zambia’s geographical position makes it susceptible to disease outbreaks and the vaccination campaign is part of its proactive approach to protect children.

“The Health Ministry, with support from cooperating partners, will conduct four rounds of mass oral polio vaccination in Eastern, Muchinga and Lusaka Provinces, four weeks apart. The vaccination exercise will be done door-to-door to ensure that all children of five years and under are reached,” Mulyata said.

She said vaccination points will also be set up at places such as bus stations and markets, urging all parents to ensure their children are vaccinated.

Noala Skinner, UNICEF representative for Zambia, said the agency has provided more than 5.9 million polio vaccine doses for the first and second rounds of the country’s immunization campaign.

The target for the first round is to reach 1.2 million children across 30 districts, she said.

“The second round will take the campaign to every district in the country and an estimated 3.8 million children have been targeted. At the same time, parallel campaigns are taking place in Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania,” Skinner said.

Nathan Bakyaita, a World Health Organization representative, said the outbreak in Malawi was the first in Africa since 2020, when the continent was declared to have successfully halted transmission of the virus.

Zambia last recorded two polio cases in 2019 in two districts.