ISLAMABAD: The second nationwide anti-polio campaign of the ongoing year has missed its target of vaccination by around 300,000 children.

The week-long campaign aimed to vaccinate more than 45 million children under the age of five. However, according to data released by the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) on Monday, more than 44.7m children were vaccinated against polio.

“Due to the tireless efforts of polio workers, the vaccine reached over 44.7m children across the country. In addition to polio drops, children were also administered Vitamin A supplements to help strengthen their immunity,” it said.

The provincial breakdown showed that over 23m children were vaccinated in Punjab, over 10.4m in Sindh, over 7.2m in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and over 2.6m in Balochistan. Meanwhile, over 441,000 children were vaccinated in Islamabad, over 292,000 in Gilgit-Baltistan and around 717,000 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The NEOC highlighted that the strong support and cooperation of parents and communities played a key role in the success of the campaign.

Speaking to Dawn, a polio expert, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the number of children missed during the campaign was unsurprising as some were missed because they were travelling and others were cases of refusals.

“If accurate data has been provided, I believe that the latest campaign is an achievement; usually, polio drives miss 800,000 to 1m children during each nationwide campaign,” he said.

The expert further highlighted the need for continuing immunisation, saying that high transmission season was set to arrive, bringing with it more chances of infection.

The virus responsible for the crippling disease becomes more active with the increase in temperature from May to September. On the other hand, the virus is less active or dormant from the end of September to the start of May. This period is termed the low transmission season.

Pakistan is one of the last two countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic.

More than 44.3m children were vaccinated across the country during the first anti-polio campaign of the year held in February. Around a million children were missed and 53,000 refusals were reported during the drive.

Pakistan reported 31 polio cases in 2025, while one case has been confirmed so far in 2026 from Sujawal, Sindh.