World Health Organisation switches Polio vaccine in 150 countries

On the 17^th of April, 2016, the WHO launched a more targeted attack on the polio virus in 150 countries apparently in the last stretch of the eradication of the disease with a new vaccine. The new vaccine will target only Types 1 and 3 wild polio viruses unlike the current vaccine (has been in use for about 30 years) which targets Types 1, 2, and 3; Type 2 was eradicated in 1999.

In 2016, only 12 cases of wild polio infection has been reported so far worldwide, which means that with sustained efforts the disease could be eradicated by the end of this decade (that is 2020), the WHO’s Director of Polio Eradication, Michel Zaffran says.