Daily Times

PESHAWAR: An attempt to sabotage the countrywide anti-polio vaccination drive was exposed when it was revealed that a group of conspirators forged the illness and hospitalization of children in Mashokhel village to spread panic and misinformation about the polio campaign.

On Monday, residents staged a demonstration outside the hospital and damaged the property. The protesters also broke down the main gate of the hospital and set the building on fire.

Hayatabad Medical Complex spokesperson said that the children just complained of dizziness and were largely doing okay.

Speaking to a private reporting source, Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) Coordinator Kamran Afridi said, “There can be no reaction to the anti-polio vaccine. The vaccine was not expired and the condition of all the children is normal.”

In videos circulating on the social media, a man can be seen instructing young boys, dressed in madrassa uniform, to lie on hospital beds and pretend to be unconscious, as the boys follow his instructions.

Afridi maintained, “Doctors also said the children did not get a reaction from the vaccine. There are parents in Masho Khel who do not want to administer the drops to their children and they could have felt sick owing to other reasons.”

Yesterday (April 22) a nationwide campaign to deliver anti-polio drops began.