Hyderabad: A total of 16,35,432 children below the age of five years were administered pulse polio drops in a special vaccination drive conducted on Sunday.

According to officials, the number of children vaccinated in the fixed booths was 15,91,907, at transit points was 22,173, and by mobile teams was 21,352. The officials reported that the percentage of children vaccinated reached 94.4 per cent. The house-to-house drive will be continued for another two days to ensure every child is vaccinated, and authorities have appealed to parents to ensure their children receive the oral polio vaccination.

The special drive was taken up in the districts of Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Medchal, Sangareddy, Hanamkonda, and Warangal. Officials estimated that there are 17,56,789 children in the 0-5 age group in these six districts.

The initiative was launched because polio cases have been registered in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and other countries over the last three years, despite India's last case being registered in 2011 (Telangana's last case was in 2007). In this context, the Union Health Ministry decided to organise a special vaccination drive in districts with a high movement of people from those countries. Across the country, 290 districts were selected, including five districts from Telangana (Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Medchal, Sangareddy, Hanamkonda) and the urban areas under Warangal district.