Officials not to use ‘contaminated’ polio vaccine

JAIPUR: The state has directed its officials not to use polio vaccines ‘contaminated’ with type 2 polio virus. Sources at health department confirmed that vaccines were supplied from the Centre which were contaminated with type 2 polio virus.
Health department officials in other districts claimed that they had received vaccines supplied by the Centre through proper chain of supply of vaccines in the state.“Around 15 days ago, we had received information from health authorities not to administer polio vaccine manufactured by a particular company,” a health department official said, posted in one of the districts.
Officials said that the contaminated polio vaccines contain live polio viruses of polio type 2, which has already been eradicated, not only from the state but also from the entire country. The presence of live viruses of polio type 2 in vaccines supplied by the Centre to the state poses higher risk of spreading the virus of polio type 2. But, health department officials took timely action to prevent its use.
“I have a stock of 30,000 doses of the vaccine which we have not used as the health authorities directed us not to administer them to the children,” a health department official, who is posted in one of the districts of the state.
Moreover, another health department official said that they had 30,000 doses of vaccine (contaminated). But, they did not use it. They received another 25,000 doses of vaccines, which were manufactured by some other company and which is safe.
According to health department official, earlier they were getting oral polio vaccines, which were used as a trivalent polio vaccine as it was containing type 1, 2 and 3. But, after type 2 polio virus was eradicated from the country, the state started getting bivalent polio vaccine containing type 1 and type 3 from 2016.
Rajasthan is the state, which has not reported any case of polio since 2009. The last case in the state was detected on November 27, 2009 in Bharatpur.