Polio immunisation programme will now start on 31 January due to COVID-19 vaccination drive on 16 January

New Delhi: The National Polio immunisation programme, as part of which children in the age group of 0-5 years are administered polio drops, has been rescheduled to 31 January.

The National Immunisation Day (NID), commonly known as Pulse Polio Immunisation programme, was earlier scheduled for 17 January across India.

"The massive countrywide vaccination drive will be rolled out by Prime Minister from January 16. This would be the world's largest immunisation exercise. Therefore, it has been decided by the Ministry of Health in consultation with the office of the President of India to reschedule the Polio vaccination day, also known as the National Immunisation Day (NID) or 'Polio Ravivar' to 31st January," the Union Health Ministry said.

The President will launch the Polio National Immunisation Day on 30 January by administering Polio drops to some children at the Rashtrapati Bhawan at 11.45 am, the ministry said in a statement.

"The decision is in keeping with the stated policy of the Health Ministry to ensure that COVID management and vaccination services as well as non-COVID essential health services proceed in tandem without adversely impacting each other," it stated.