Tarun Karthick
Sri Vijaya Puram, 19 December 2025
The Union Territory will observe National Immunization Day (NID) for Polio on December 21, 2025, with thousands of children across the Andaman and Nicobar Islands expected to receive the oral polio vaccine.
At a media sensitisation workshop held on 17 December, Director of Health Services (DHS) Dr. H.M. Sidharaju highlighted India’s significant progress against polio, noting that the country has reported no wild polio cases since January 2011. This achievement led to the WHO’s certification of the South-East Asia Region, including India, as polio-free in March 2014.
Despite the milestone, Dr. Sidharaju cautioned that India remains at high risk of importing the wild polio virus until global eradication is achieved. As recommended by the India Expert Advisory Group (IEAG), one round of Single Polio National Immunization Day will be conducted on 21 December, covering all children aged 0–5 years. Two drops of the bivalent Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) will be administered at designated booths, followed by a two-day house-to-house campaign to identify and immunize children who may have been missed.
This year, health authorities estimate that around 20,666 children will receive the vaccine through 489 booths set up across the Islands, including points at the airport, sea port and other transit locations. During the mop-up visits, health workers will also verify whether children have missed routine immunization doses, with the aim of improving overall vaccination coverage.
Tourists and visiting families with children under five will also be covered under the programme, and DHS officials say efforts are underway to ensure that 100 percent of eligible children receive the drops.
Dr. Sidharaju has appealed to the public to bring children aged 0–5 years to the nearest booth on December 21, 2025, for administration of the polio vaccine.
