Mozambique’s government on Thursday announced a campaign to vaccinate children against the Type 2 polio variant from November to December, warning of the existence of this disease in some provinces.
“The vaccination will take place in the first fortnight of November this year and will cover all children under the age of 10, in all districts of the country, and the second round will take place in December this year,” said the National Director of Public Health, Quinhas Fernandes.
Fernandes was speaking at a press conference about the vaccination situation in the country.
“There continues to be concern about the type 2 polio variant, which has been registered in some provinces. Since 2021, eight cases of the type 2 variant have been registered, five in Nampula, two in Manica and one in Cabo Delgado. That’s why we’re entering the second phase of the fight against polio,” he continued.
Immunisation will be carried out using the nOPV-2 vaccine, which is administered orally and used in emergencies rather than routinely, he added.
Despite the concern about this type of disease, the country has remained free of wild poliovirus Type 1, as a result of the application of around 106 million doses of bOPV vaccine, in a total of 11 vaccination rounds, said the national director of Public Health.
“As a result of this effort, the outbreak of wild poliovirus type 1 was closed in May 2024,” he said.
