CAMAGÜEY.- With the goal of maintaining polio elimination, considered the most significant achievement of Cuban Public Health in the field of prevention due to its social impact, the National Bivalent Oral Polio Vaccination Campaign begins in the country from April 22nd to 26th, 2024.

The process coincides with the 22nd Vaccination Week in the Americas and the 13th World Immunization Week, under the slogan "Vaccines for a Full Life," and with the highest priority for healthcare professionals on the Caribbean island.

This new phase of the immunization plan, a process already familiar to parents, will be administered with two doses of the bivalent oral polio vaccine in two stages for all children who are over one month old on April 22nd and under three years old, with a catch-up week from April 29th to May 3rd.

Similarly, for the month of June, specifically between June 17th and 21st, the second phase of the campaign is announced. The second dose will be administered to those who receive the first dose, and a booster dose will also be given to children 9 years of age and older, with a catch-up dose between June 24th and 28th.

Throughout the country, vaccination sites will be opened in 2025, primarily in polyclinics and Family Doctor and Nurse practitioner offices, to bring the service closer and ensure its preservation.

A recovery week is also planned for children who cannot attend for various reasons, such as access to the immunogen administered in drops, or children showing symptoms of fever, vomiting, or diarrhea.

The polio vaccination campaign, promoted as a revolutionary achievement since 1962, is carried out annually to protect the underage population. Cuba is the first state in Latin America to be declared free of this infectious disease that affects the central nervous system.

Translated by Linet Acuña Quilez