ISLAMABAD: Pakistani health volunteers have vaccinated over 44.1 million children against poliovirus in six days so far, the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) said on Sunday as the nationwide campaign entered its last day. 

Pakistan kicked off the seven-day anti-polio campaign on Feb. 2 to vaccinate over 45 million children under the age of five against poliovirus. 

In Punjab, health workers have vaccinated over 22.9 million children, in Sindh 10.4 million, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) 7.1 million, in Balochistan 2.324 million, in Islamabad over 455,000, in Gilgit-Baltistan over 261,000 and in Azad Kashmir over 673,000 in the last six days, the NEOC said. 

“In six days, vaccination of more than 44.1 million children has been completed across the country,” the NEOC said in a statement. 

It said over 400,000 trained polio workers are going door-to-door to administer polio drops to children.

“Open your doors for polio workers and ensure your children receive polio drops,” the NEOC said. “Parents and communities are urged to fully cooperate with polio workers.”

Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the only two countries worldwide where polio remains endemic. The NEOC said the anti-polio drive was being conducted simultaneously in both countries. 

Last year, Pakistan reported 31 polio cases, a significant drop from the alarming 74 cases reported in the country in 2024. The South Asian nation reported six cases in 2023 and only one in 2021, but saw a sharp resurgence in 2024.

Pakistan’s polio program began in 1994, but efforts to eradicate the virus have been repeatedly undermined by vaccine misinformation and resistance from some religious hard-liners who claim that immunization is a foreign plot to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western espionage.

Militant groups have also frequently targeted polio vaccination teams and the security personnel assigned to protect them, often resulting in deadly attacks, particularly in KP and Balochistan.