Frequently Asked Questions

• Polio is caused by a human enterovirus called the poliovirus. The virus is most often spread by the fecal-oral route. Poliovirus enters through the mouth and multiplies in the intestine. Infected individuals shed poliovirus into the environment for several weeks, where it can spread rapidly through a community, especially in areas of poor sanitation. Poliomyelitis can affect any age, but primarily involves children ages less than 5 years and can cause paralysis or even death.

• Building immunity against virus is a very complex biological process. We are all different; as are organisms' reactions to medications and vaccines.
• Few children may acquire strong immunity after just five or six doses of the polio vaccine, while the most vulnerable children need more than ten. The immune system of underweight, malnourished and children suffering from diarrhoea responds to the polio vaccine in a different way that of healthy children.
• Therefore, to remain protected, all children under five years of age should receive polio vaccine during every immunization round.

• To stop polio transmission, no less than 95% of all children under 5 years of age across Pakistan should be immunized during each campaign. To achieve this high coverage is very challenging logistically. In other words, the remaining 5% that make almost 2 million unimmunized children should be reached during consecutive campaigns in a short interval to ensure all children are covered.
• Furthermore, once the polio virus is detected in a certain area, an additional campaign will be carried out for that district to prevent potential outbreak of polio amongst children in the community. That is why multiple polio campaigns are done every year.
• No child should miss a single dose of polio vaccine! Each additional dose is an additional protection against polio.

• Oral polio vaccine (OPV) is safe and effective and given multiple times, it offers long-lasting protection against the poliovirus.
  • OPV is administered orally and does not require health professionals or sterile needle syringes. As such, OPV is easy to administer in mass vaccination campaigns that take place in Pakistan.
  • Moreover, for several weeks after vaccination the vaccine virus replicates in the intestine, is excreted and can be spread to others in close contact. This means that in areas with poor hygiene and sanitation, immunization with OPV can result in ‘passive’ immunization of people who have not been vaccinated.
• IPV, or inactivated polio vaccine, is an extremely safe vaccine and highly effective in protecting children from polio. It produces antibodies in the blood against poliovirus and, unlike OPV, it has limited ability to stop the spread of virus in a community. This is why in the polio-endemic countries such as Pakistan, OPV is the predominant vaccine used in the fight to eradicate the virus. Administering IPV requires trained health workers, as well as sterile injection equipment and procedures
  • Combining OPV and IPV provides stronger protection against polio. IPV strengthens immunity in the blood while OPV strengthens immunity in the gut.
  • IPV has been introduced into the routine schedule across Pakistan to give children the best protection against polio. The current routine immunization schedule recommends one dose of IPV and multiple doses of OPV for full protection against polio.
  • Once polio is eradicated, IPV will be the only vaccine available for routine use.

• The oral polio vaccine is one of the safest vaccines ever developed. It is so safe it can be given to sick children and newborns. It has been used all over the world to protect children against polio, saving at least 5 million children from permanent paralysis by polio.
• On extremely rare occasions, when there is insufficient vaccination coverage in a community the vaccine-virus may be able to circulate, mutate and, over the course of 12 to 18 months, reacquire the capacity to cause paralysis. This is known as a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus.

• The only contraindication applicable for all vaccines including OPV is a history of a severe reaction after a prior dose of vaccine or to a vaccine constituent.

• OPV is perfectly safe and should be administered to all children, including sick children, to protect them from polio. In fact, it is particularly critical that sick children are immunized during the campaigns, because their immunity levels are lower than other children.

• Yes. Newborn children should be vaccinated, even if they are born a few hours ago. Younger the child, higher is the risk of getting the polio disease. It is therefore particularly critical that newborns are immunized to give them the protection against polio that they desperately need.

• All of the oral polio vaccines (OPV) used in Pakistan are prequalified by the World Health Organization, which guarantees they are safe, potent and of high quality standards.
• OPV is sensitive to high temperatures and loses potency if exposed to heat for prolonged periods of time. A stringent system of refrigeration, cold boxes and vaccine carries, called the “cold chain system”, is put in place to ensure that OPV remains within recommended temperature through its entire journey until it is administered to a person.
• Vials of OPV are equipped with heat sensitive indicator on labels of each OPV vial, which is called the vaccine vial monitor (VVM). The VVM allows health workers to know if the vaccine has been exposed to heat. Workers administer drops only with vails having valid VVM and expiry date.
• Pakistan Polio Programme has got Certification from WHO-approved lab in Islamabad which authenticates that all the ingredients and quality of the vaccine are safe for human consumption.

• Yes, it is safe to administer multiple doses of polio vaccine to children. Moreover, the vaccine is designed to be administered multiple times to ensure full protection.
• Multiple doses of polio vaccine are required for a child to be fully protected – sometimes more than ten. This vaccine is safe for all children. Each additional dose further strengthens a child's immunity level against polio.

• OPV needs to be administered multiple times to be fully effective. The number of doses it takes to give a child a full protection depends entirely on the child's health and nutritional status, and how many other viruses that child has been exposed to.
• Until a child is fully immunized, they are still at risk from polio. This emphasizes the need for all children to be immunized during every round of immunization campaign days. Every missed child is a place for the polio virus to hide.

• Yes. Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) is safe and effective and every extra dose means a child gets extra protection against polio. It takes multiple doses of OPV to achieve full immunity against polio. If a child has received the vaccine before, then extra doses given during the National or Sub National Immunization Days (NIDs/SNIDs) will give valuable additional immunity against polio.

• No polio vaccine does not cause cancer.The oral polio vaccine (OPV) administered to children during house-to-house polio campaigns in Pakistan 100% safe, effective and is the essential tool available to protect all children against polio safest It has no common side effects and has been used all over the world to protect children against polio virus. Over the last 30 years, this polio vaccine has saved 17 million people across the world from permanent paralysis by polio.
• Moreover, the test conducted in 2015 by the National Control Laboratory for Biologicals, controlled by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) confirmed that the polio vaccine being used in Pakistan is safe, effective and halal. Any rumors linking OPV, polio vaccine cause cancer, are simply false and baseless.

• The polio vaccine in pakistan comes from indonesia.

• Oral polio vaccine (OPV) is safe and has been declared halal by Islamic leaders all over the world – the Grand Sheik Tantawi of Al-Azhar University, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia and the Majelis Council of Ulemmas in Indonesia. Other prominent international institutions endorsing OPV include Dar al Uloom Deo-Band, India; the Organization of the Islamic Conference; the International Union for Muslim Scholars (Mufti Dr. Yousuf al-Qaradawi); Imam of Masjid Al Aqsa (Bait ul Muqades) and other prominent scholars and muftis from all sects in all provinces of Pakistan.
• The Government of Saudi Arabia has made it mandatory for Haj travellers from polio-endemic countries to take the polio vaccine irrespective of age and previous vaccination status.

• The oral polio vaccine is one of the safest vaccines ever developed and it is halal.
• The test conducted in 2015 by the National Control Laboratory for Biologicals, controlled by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) confirmed that the polio vaccine being used in Pakistan is halal.
• All Muslim countries have used the same vaccine to eradicate polio and it is endorsed by the Imam-E-Kaaba.
• In Pakistan, all major Islamic clerics and madrassas have given fatwas in favour of the polio vaccine which include Mufti E Azaam Pakistan, Mufti Rafi Usmani, Mufti Muneeb Ur Rehman, Mufti Naeem, and Maulana Sami Ul Haq, among others.
• The Government of Saudi Arabia has made it mandatory for Haj travellers from polio-endemic countries to take the polio vaccine irrespective of age and previous vaccination status.

• This rumour is baseless and wrong. The polio vaccine does not cause infertility and has no ingredient that may result in anyone becoming infertile.
• The test conducted in 2015 by the National Control Laboratory for Biologicals, controlled by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) confirmed that the polio vaccine being used in Pakistan is halal and does not contain any hormones that may cause infertility.
• Oral polio vaccine (OPV) is safe and has been declared halal by Islamic leaders all over the world.

• The Islamic Advisory Group for Polio Eradication (IAG) launched in February 2014 explores ways to muster support from Muslim religious scholars and groups to end. The IAG combines the correct religious and technical information related to polio vaccination and shares that understanding with the concerned communities, e.g. collecting fatwas in support of polio vaccinations, organization of religious conferences on the subject of immunization and establishment of National IAGs.
• The National Islamic Advisory Group for Polio Eradication (NIAG) Pakistan was inaugurated to ensure that local religious leaders in Pakistan are fully sensitized to the importance of polio eradication and the unique role they can play in protecting Pakistani children from this terrible disease. The Group was constituted under the leadership of International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI), in collaboration with key Islamic institutions across the country under the leadership of the Islamic Advisory Group for Polio Eradication (IAG) and other key institutions. There are around 1,000 religious scholars working across Pakistan to support polio vaccination.

As per the temporary recommendation of the Executive committee under the International health regulations  (IHR- 2005) on the international spread of poliovirus, Polio vaccination is required for all international travelers regardless of their age group,

1. To stop the international spread of poliovirus from the infected countries.
2. With the continued transmission of the poliovirus between infected countries including Pakistan and Afghanistan from where polio is not eradicated, the focus is to ensure everyone crossing the international border and /or traveling abroad from these infected countries gets vaccinated as per IHR protocols.
3. Unimmunized children/persons who are potentially exposed to wild poliovirus and have not been adequately immunized can spread the poliovirus to others.

• All travelers including country residents and long-term visitors (i.e. > four weeks) of all ages, receive a dose of Polio vaccine (bivalent oral poliovirus vaccine - bOPV) or inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) between four weeks and 12 months prior to international travel.

• Those undertaking urgent travel (i.e. within four weeks), who have not received a dose of bOPV or IPV in the previous four weeks to 12 months, must receive a dose of polio vaccine at least by the time of departure at the international Airport’s polio vaccination designated counters as this will still provide benefit, particularly for frequent travelers.

• After simultaneous/immediate polio vaccination, travelers are provided with a Certificate of Polio Vaccination to record their polio vaccination and serve as proof of vaccination.

• Polio international vaccination certificate is valid for one year.

• It is safe to get vaccination during COVID-19 by adopting protective measures.
• The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is a reminder of the importance of vaccination. As social distancing requirements are relaxed, unvaccinated people, especially children are more vulnerable to diseases and can spread poliovirus.

• OPV is perfectly safe and should be administered to all children, including sick children, to protect them from polio. In fact, it is particularly critical that sick children are immunized because their immunity levels are lower than other children.

• The oral polio vaccine is one of the safest vaccines ever developed and it is halal.
• The test conducted in 2015 by the National Control Laboratory for Biologicals, controlled by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) confirmed that the polio vaccine being used in Pakistan is halal.
• All Muslim countries have used the same vaccine to eradicate polio and it is endorsed by the Imam-E-Kaaba.