Punjab government has drafted to mandate a vaccine called Pneumococcal across the province to protect children up to one year from 10 lethal diseases like pneumonia, meningitis, sepsis, febrile bacteremia and arthritis.
The vaccine campaign will be launched in all districts of the province simultaneously on September 15 in which 1, 55,000 children be immunized, Executive District Officer (EDO) Health Rawalpindi Dr Zafar Iqbal Gondal told reporters. He said that Rawalpindi District Health Department constituted 1,360 mobile teams and established 52 health centers to administer the vaccine to children across the province.
A supportive vaccine named Pentavalent will be injected in right thigh and Pneumococcal (PCV 10) will be injected in left thigh.
Expressing hope that the campaign would bring down the mortality rate, Iqbal highlighted the importance of hygiene and a balanced diet for children to prevent them from lethal diseases.
PCV 10 vaccine is an improved version of the previous PCV 7. Three doses of the vaccine would be administered to the new born babies at three stages: after six weeks, 10 weeks and 14 weeks of birth.
