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📺 CM Vijay Launches Pulse Polio Drive — June 28, 2026
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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay personally inaugurated the State's annual Pulse Polio Immunisation Campaign on Sunday, June 28, 2026, at the Adi Dravidar Welfare Higher Secondary School campus in Palavakkam, Chennai — choosing the venue at a Dalit welfare school as a deliberate signal of the TVK government's commitment to equity in public health.
At the event, CM Vijay personally administered oral polio drops to children below five years of age, formally launching a statewide single-day drive aimed at vaccinating 52.91 lakh (5.29 million) children across all 38 districts of Tamil Nadu.
Find Your Nearest Polio Booth in Chennai
Complete list of all 140 UPHC vaccination centres across Chennai — with addresses and Google Maps links.
The National Pulse Polio Programme is India's annual mass immunisation initiative under which every child below five years of age is administered free oral polio vaccine (OPV) drops, regardless of their prior vaccination history. India was declared polio-free by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2014 — a landmark public health achievement after decades of effort. These annual campaigns continue to protect that hard-earned status, preventing the virus from re-emerging through travel, exposure, or immunity gaps.
To ensure maximum reach, the Tamil Nadu Health Department set up 43,051 vaccination booths across the State at locations where families naturally congregate:
In addition, mobile medical teams were deployed to reach remote villages, hilly regions and inaccessible areas to ensure no child was missed due to geography.
The launch venue — the Adi Dravidar Welfare Higher Secondary School — is not incidental. By choosing a Dalit welfare school as the inaugural site, CM Vijay sent a clear message: that the TVK government's health programmes will prioritise communities that have historically faced barriers to healthcare access. The choice reflects the TVK manifesto's promise to ensure no marginalized child falls through the gaps of public health systems.
Ahead of Sunday's launch, Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner G.S. Sameeran personally inspected the Palavakkam venue on Saturday to review arrangements made by civic and health officials. The inspection covered booth setup, staffing, cold-chain logistics for vaccine storage and crowd management for the inaugural event.
Today's Pulse Polio launch comes on Day 49 of CM Vijay's governance. It follows a rapid sequence of welfare and public health actions — Thaimaaman Gold Ring scheme, 300 new free buses for women, Singappen Athiradi Padai women's safety wing, White Paper on state finances, and now this mass children's vaccination drive. Across all 38 districts simultaneously on a Sunday — when government offices are typically closed — the scale of execution signals the Health Department's operational readiness.
Health officials have urged all parents and guardians to bring children below five years to the nearest vaccination centre — stressing that repeated doses are essential to maintaining immunity, even for children who have previously received routine immunisation or earlier polio doses.
Pulse Polio 2026 CM Vijay Child Health 52.91 Lakh Children 43,051 Booths Palavakkam Chennai June 28, 2026 TVK Government National Pulse Polio Programme