ISLAMABAD — More than 23.4 million children have received polio drops in the first five days of Pakistan’s sub-national polio campaign, the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) said on Saturday, as the polio campaign Pakistan 2026 enters its final day today, Sunday 8 November.
The figures underline how quickly the drive has gathered pace. More than 19.6 million children were vaccinated in the first three days, the total passed 22.1 million by the end of day four, and it reached more than 23.4 million by the end of day five. With the sixth day already under way on Saturday, teams are now working to reach the remaining children before the campaign closes tonight.
More than 23.4 million children reached in five days
The polio campaign Pakistan 2026 is being run in 97 selected districts, and its target is around 24 million children under the age of five. That leaves only a small gap between the number reached so far and the overall goal, and officials say the final day will be used to cover children who were missed earlier in the week, including those who were away from home, unwell or travelling when teams first called.
The pace matters because a single missed child can keep the virus circulating in a community. Each child is given two drops of oral polio vaccine, free of charge, whether or not they have been vaccinated before. The drops are repeated in every round because each dose strengthens protection, and because children who miss one round must be caught in the next.
What the campaign covers
The week-long drive began on 2 November and runs until today, 8 November. It is the fifth major anti-polio drive of 2026 and the third sub-national campaign of the year, focused on the districts where the risk of transmission is highest. A simultaneous campaign is also being held in Afghanistan, the only other country, along with Pakistan, where wild poliovirus remains endemic.
Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal inaugurated the campaign at the National Emergency Operations Centre in Islamabad. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered consultations with all four provinces and a coordinated polio plan within a week, underlining that the effort is being treated as a national priority rather than a routine health exercise. Details of the programme, including how the campaign is organised, are published on the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme website.
Today is the final day — what parents should do
As the polio campaign Pakistan 2026 reaches its final day, the NEOC has urged parents to make sure every child under five receives the drops today. Teams are going door to door, so parents should keep their children at home when a team is expected, open the door to the vaccinators, and allow them to mark the child’s finger after the drops are given. The finger mark helps teams know which homes have been covered and which still need a visit.
Parents who are unsure whether their child has been covered, or whose child was missed, should contact their local health facility or the nearest polio team today rather than waiting for the next round. The NEOC has also reminded families to complete their children’s routine immunisation on time, as the polio drops protect against polio but do not replace the other vaccines in the childhood schedule. Updates on the campaign are also being carried by Radio Pakistan.
Why this drive matters
Pakistan has recorded nine wild poliovirus cases so far in 2026, a sharp fall from 31 cases last year. Seven of the nine cases are in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and two are in Sindh. The most recent case, the ninth polio case of the year, was a seven-month-old boy in Khyber district, and the virus was traced to Afghanistan, showing how easily it can cross the border.
That is why repeated, high-coverage rounds of the polio campaign Pakistan 2026 matter. Earlier this year, the September round protected more than 29.3 million children, while the nationwide drive in February reached 44.3 million. Each round narrows the space in which the virus can survive, but the gains only hold if coverage stays high in every district, in every round, until transmission stops altogether.
The workers behind the numbers
Behind the 23.4 million figure are more than 200,000 frontline polio workers taking part in the polio campaign Pakistan 2026, going door to door in cities, towns and villages, often in difficult weather and in areas where trust has to be earned one household at a time. Many of them are women, working in their own communities, carrying vaccine carriers, tally sheets and finger markers, and returning to homes where children were absent on the first visit.
Their work is not without risk. During this campaign, two policemen were martyred guarding a polio team in Mohmand, and four workers were abducted in Tank on the first day. The NEOC and provincial authorities have said the campaign will continue despite such incidents, and that the safety of teams remains a priority as the drive reaches its final hours.
With one day left, the message from the campaign is simple: if a polio team knocks today, open the door. Two drops now can protect a child for life — and bring Pakistan one step closer to ending polio for good. This report was compiled by UrduPro’s Health Desk.
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