Efforts to curb the deadly polio disease have been intensified in Quezon City, according to its local government on Tuesday.

In a statement, QC Mayor Joy Belmonte directed the Quezon City Health Department to double its efforts against polio through continuous vaccination drives and information dissemination.

On 14 October, the city launched the Sabayang Patak Laban sa Polio (Synchronized Oral Polio Vaccination) as part of its mitigating efforts against the re-emergence of the polio virus in the country after 20 years.

The city — in support to the national campaign against the highly infectious virus — started its vaccination drives for children ages five years old and below (0-59 months) and as of 20 October, the QC Health Department, the Department of Health (DoH), and its partner agencies have successfully vaccinated 160,000 children during the first round.

This is 60 percent of its overall target of 274,785 children in the city and Belmonte said that there will be continuous house-to-house vaccination efforts and fixed vaccination areas in barangays, malls, and bus stations within the city.

The second round of vaccination will happen on 25 November to 7 December 2019.