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Each morning, vaccinators meet at the local health post with their supervisors.
Together, the micro-plans are reviewed. Micro-plans clearly indicate which areas
and which houses are to be covered by individual vaccination teams. This way,
vaccinators know precisely where they need to go and which houses to visit.
Also at the health post, the vaccinators collect their supply of polio vaccine
for the day. Because the vaccine is heat-sensitive, it must be maintained at
near-freezing temperatures, a process known as the 'cold-chain'. In each
district, a vaccine depot maintains the supply in a refrigerated warehouse,
before it is distributed each morning to health posts of all blocks in the
district. Vaccinators must carry the day's supply in a vaccine carrier-bag,
cooled with four ice-packs.
In total, throughout India, more than 200 million doses of polio vaccine were
available during the National Immunization Day from 20 - 26 November. More than
6.3 million ice-packs were necessary to maintain these doses at appropriate
temperatures as they were being delivered from house-to-house by the
vaccinators..
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