After Karnataka made it mandatory for every suspected case of measles and rubella to be confirmed through a blood test, the State has now been selected for the introduction of a combined measles rubella vaccine for children aged above nine months and below 15 years.
Under phase I of the campaign, the children will get one shot of vaccine on February 7 across the State.
Children in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Goa and Lakshadweep too are being covered.
Now, all children receive two doses of measles vaccine at 9 months to 12 months and 16 months to 23 months under the routine immunisation programme. “Both these doses will be replaced by a combined injection from February,” Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) Shalini Rajneesh said at a workshop here on Tuesday.
The campaign on February 7 would cover 1.74 crore children. “It will go on for three weeks after the first round on February 7. The target is to cover more than 95 per cent of children in three weeks and give them one shot of the vaccine, irrespective of whether they had been vaccinated for measles or not before,” she said adding that educative sessions would be held in schools and anganwadis in villages.
“Our focus should also be to cover the children of migrants, especially children of labourers in slums, construction sites and brick kilns,” she said.
