The campaign reflects the government’s efforts to boost children’s immunity in Egypt and to ensure the country remains free of the disease, Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar — the official spokesperson for the ministry — said in a statement.

In 2006, the World Health Organisation declared Egypt free of polio, as the last case of polio recorded in the country was in 2004.

The campaign will target all children and will not discriminate between Egyptians and non-Egyptians inside the country, Abdel-Ghaffar noted.

Comprising 45,000 teams that consist of 90,000 medical personnel, the campaign will cover all Egyptian governorates through fixed clinics and mobile teams on streets and near churches, mosques, and metro stations, the spokesperson said.

There will also be medical teams going door to door, Head of Preventive Medicine at the health ministry Amr Kandil said, adding that it will also focus on crowded spaces, such as markets, major squares, and commercial areas.

Additionally, the ministry will be deploying stationary units in more remote areas to reach as many people as possible.

Kandil — who stressed that the vaccines are safe and free — called on all families to vaccinate their children, noting that the authorities will take all the precautionary measures to limit exposure and prevent the spread of the coronavirus throughout the campaign.

Egypt’s last polio campaigns were implemented in December, March, and February of 2021.