Stopping vaccine-derived polioviruses
With four months to go until the global switch from trivalent to bivalent oral polio vaccine, we are nearing an important milestone in the journey to a polio-free world
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A child is vaccinated with the oral poliovirus vaccine in Nigeria, which saw a cVDPV outbreak earlier in the year. © Nigeria CDC

In just four months’ time, the world will embark on one of the most ambitious globally synchronised projects in the history of vaccines. April 2016 will see 155 countries and territories stop using the trivalent oral polio vaccine (OPV) and switch to the bivalent version of the vaccine, in a single two week period. This will have an important impact on progress towards achieving the eradication of all polioviruses worldwide.