In a significant move to curb the spread of the poliovirus, the government of Pakistan has decided to administer inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) injections to children up to 15 years of age. The campaign, recommended by global anti-polio organizations, will be launched in Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar over the next four months.
According to sources, the initiative aims to act as a booster to strengthen children’s immunity, particularly in light of concerns surrounding the spread of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1). The campaign will be rolled out in phases, with each phase vaccinating children in a single day to ensure maximum immune response.
The decision comes following a recent meeting of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG), a panel of international polio experts for Pakistan and Afghanistan, held in Islamabad. The group strongly recommended the IPV strategy to supplement existing oral vaccine campaigns. International organizations will supply the IPV doses, ensuring the campaign has sufficient resources.
Also Read: Over 60,000 Polio Vaccine Refusals Reported During April Campaign
This comes at a time when vaccine hesitancy remains a serious challenge. During the nationwide anti-polio campaign from April 21 to 27, 2025, over 60,000 cases of vaccine refusal were reported, with the majority—more than 37,000—coming from Karachi. Balochistan recorded over 3,500 refusal cases, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported a refusal rate of 0.4%. Punjab and Islamabad also saw instances of parental resistance to vaccination.
Health authorities have expressed growing concern over vaccine refusal, warning that persistent hesitancy could derail decades of progress toward polio eradication.
