Over 2.5 lakh children under the age of five were administered polio drops as part of the first leg of the Pulse Polio Programme in the district on Sunday.
The campaign here was launched by District Collector Jayashree Muralidharan who administered the oral polio vaccine to children at the camp at the Srirangam corporation health centre.
According to a release issued by the Collector, the polio vaccine was administered for the first time to an estimated 2,54,409 children in 1,495 centres in the district. While 81,396 children were covered in 228 centres in the Corporation limits, 7,491 in 30 centres in municipalities were administered the vaccine. Rural areas accounted for 1,65,522 children in 1,265 centres.
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Vaccination camps were set up in government hospitals, corporation health centres, noon meal centres, tourist spots, and well-known public places.
Special camps were set up at the railway stations, bus stands, and airport for administering the vaccine to children on travel. The Railways had set up 29 booths and the vaccine was administered to children travelling by trains also. Mobile teams have been constituted to administer the vaccine to children of migrant workers. More than 3,000 workers and volunteers from various service organisations were roped in to carry out the drive.
Health workers would administer polio drops at the doorstep of children who skipped the vaccination schedule on February 20 and 21. The second leg of the campaign would be held on April 15.
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Corporation Mayor A.Jaya, Joint Director, health services, T.Mohansundaram, V.Veerapandian, deputy director of public health, were among those present.