In a special drive, the West Bengal Health Department will start the Measles-Rubella Vaccination Campaign (MRVC) across the State from January 9.
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Health officials and people associated with the vaccination exercise said that because of the thrust of COVID-19 vaccination, exercises like MRVC had taken a back seat. The target of the exercise is to vaccinate around 1 million children in Kolkata and 2.33 crore in West Bengal. Children aged between 9 months to 15 years will be covered in the vaccination programme between January 9 and February 13.
The State Health Department and different agencies like World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and Lions Club International will participate in the campaign which will provide free vaccines to children through schools.
“This MR vaccine is safe and it is not a new vaccine, it has already been in the routine Immunization programme of India for many years,” Subhajit Bhattacharya, Regional Team Leader- East, WHO told journalists. The vaccination exercise will be held in phases the first 2–3 weeks in schools, 2 weeks in the community, and one week for covering missed areas etc.
Rubella is a contagious viral infection that occurs most often in children and young adults. According to official data in the year 2022 West Bengal logged 1,804 measles cases of which 123 were reported from Kolkata.