Clarifying rumours pertaining to the safety of pulse polio vaccine, the State Health and Family Welfare Department on Saturday stated that oral vaccine was safe and the public must not doubt its safety. This comes following a WhatsApp message claiming that the pulse polio vaccine contained a deadly virus and the manufacturers had been arrested in Delhi. The anonymous message also urged parents not to get their children vaccinated for pulse polio till the next update. The message had become viral in January this year and the department had clarified it then too.
Reacting to the message, Deputy Director (Immunisation) Rajani B.N. clarified that such rumours were baseless. “Spreading such rumours and creating panic will definitely affect the polio-free status, which India secured from the World Health Organisation since 2014. The last case of wild polio virus type-2 in the country was in 1999. However, India continues to maintain a highly sensitive surveillance system for polio,” she said in a release.