KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Polio Immunisation Campaign (KIPS) received positive response from the public, with 78.61 per cent of the target group having received the first dose of the vaccine, and 35.13 per cent having received the second dose.

Minister of Health and People’s Wellbeing Datuk Frankie Poon said there had been no new cases of polio in Sabah as of April 6.

“Cases stand at four, with one from Tuaran, two from Sandakan and one more from Kinabatangan. Only one positive case is still warded and the patient is stable,” said Frankie.

“KIPS was initiated to curb the transmission of polio, via the polio vaccine bOPV and mOPV given to children aged below 13. The public has received this campaign well.

“A total of 853,265 children under 13 are targeted in Sabah, and 78.61 per cent or 670,713 have already received the first dose of bOPV, while 299,764 or 35.13 per cent have received the second dose of the vaccine,” said Frankie.

He added that KIPS was still ongoing, although its implementation was hindered by the Movement Control Order (MCO) in light of Covid-19. However, he said polio immunisation was still given to children who go to clinics for routine immunisation or other health issues, to achieve the targeted coverage of over 95 per cent.

“Immunisation with the mOPV2 vaccine, which was supposed to begin March 23, has been rescheduled following the MCO,” said Frankie.