‘Nationwide polio immunisation drive slated for late March’

AMMAN — The Health Ministry said Monday it will implement a free nationwide vaccination campaign against polio between March 27 and 31.

Speaking to the Jordan News Agency, Petra, Mohammad Abdallat, director of the ministry’s department of communicable diseases control, said the campaign targets all children under five years old living in the Kingdom.

The polio immunisation drive, he added, is the sixth to be implemented nationwide, noting that five previous campaigns were implemented between 2013 and 2015.

The goal, according to Abdallat, is to ensure that Jordan remains polio-free and to prevent the transmission of the disease from countries where it is still common.

Vaccinations will be given from 8am to 3pm every day of the campaign to children under five years old regardless of their nationality or previous vaccinations, he added, stressing that no official documents or IDs will be requested.

Abdallat said polio is caused by poliovirus, and is transmitted through the respiratory or digestive systems by exposure to the faeces of an infected patient.

It is most common among children under five.

The vaccine will be available at all health centres, UNRWA centres, some malls and a number of public hospitals, Petra reported.

Roaming medical teams will also be administering the vaccine at public kindergartens.

The World Health Organisation, UNICEF, the Royal Medical Services, UNRWA, the Private Hospitals Association, the Jordan Medical Association and a number of civil society organisations are supporting the Health Ministry in this campaign, according to Petra.