Pakistan launches anti-polio drive amid surge in coronavirus

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani authorities have launched a five-day vaccination campaign against polio despite facing another surge of coronavirus cases. This is the second anti-polio campaign in 2021 as the country struggles to eradicate the crippling children’s disease. This campaign aims to vaccinate about 40 million children across Pakistan. Monday’s push began hours after Pakistan imposed a partial lockdown in several more high-risk areas in the country, after a jump in positive coronavirus tests. Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only two remaining countries in the world where polio is endemic, after Nigeria was last year declared free of the wild poliovirus.