Maputo — The Mozambican Health Ministry plans to vaccinate over 15 million children under the age of 15, in a further round of vaccination against polio.

According to the head of surveillance in the Ministry, Domingos Guiihole, as from Monday the necessary vaccines will be distributed to districts throughout the country.

Cited in Monday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias', Guihole said that some provinces have requested additional materials, such as markers for the fingers of infants, and accumulators for storage of the vaccines. These items are already on the way to ensure that the vaccination campaign will take place without any upsets.

Leaflets are also being distributed to make communities aware of the importance of vaccination and to mobilise them to participate in the campaign.

The decision to launch a new round of vaccination arises from the discovery of new cases, particularly in the northern provinces.

Guihole explained that the number of children to be covered was defined by taking into account the data of the target groups immunized in the previous rounds.

Between March 2022 and April 2023, seven rounds of vaccination were held, two of them covering the entire country.

Vaccination is the only effective way of preventing polio. The authorities insist that all children should be vaccinated, regardless of whether they were already vaccinated in previous campaigns, in order to strengthen their immunity.