RAWALPINDI, July 8: The Punjab government has directed the education department to open the public primary schools for four days (July 14 to 18) as part of its 10-day anti-measles vaccination campaign in Rawalpindi district, which started on Monday, July 8.

The campaign was launched by the Punjab health department in which children aged between six months and 10 years would be vaccinated against measles.

It formed 593 teams to provide the injections to children in all 197 union councils of the district, and on the first day, 300 teachers and 197 doctors performed their duties.

The campaign is divided in two phases. In the first phase, the health department selected 593 areas in the district, where social mobilisers would inform people of the arrival of the vaccination team.

These would then invite people to the place so that the children can be vaccinated against the disease.

In the second phase (after visiting the union councils), the teams would set up camps in all the government primary schools in the district during the last four days of the campaign (July 14 to 18).

The provincial government has therefore asked the school administrations to open the school and ensure the presence of the children enrolled for at least four days during the summer vacations.

“A person will inject the vaccine in a child and keep him or her at the place for half an hour to avoid any adverse reaction,” said Executive District Officer (EDO) Health Dr Zafar Iqbal Gondal, while talking to Dawn.

He said it was the directives of the Punjab health department to follow the directions and keep the children in the dispensary for the time.

The reason he gave was that, “if any reaction occurs, a doctor will provide medical treatment to the child immediately. For this purpose, the services of 69 doctors from three teaching hospitals have been employed.”

He said the health department had selected a house in every union council where parents were asked to provide anti-measles vaccination to their children. “There is no chance a child is missed during the campaign,” he said.

However, he was of the view that the 10-day campaign was not enough to cover all areas as other districts had taken two months.

“Despite all odds, the health department will ensure the coverage of the vaccination in every union council,” he said.

The EDO said during the campaign, vaccinations for seven other diseases such as tuberculosis, tetanus, diphtheria, hepatitis and polio would also be provided to children who had not been vaccinated earlier.

On the other hand, teachers questioned the logic of opening schools in summer vacations.

“If a child has been vaccinated in his or her respective area (referring to the first phase of the campaign), what will be the use of opening the schools,” said Mohammad Kamran, a school teacher.

He said most people went to their villages or towns during the summer vacations and some went to visit relatives, adding that the government should have started the campaign before the summer vacations.