Polio: Lagos To Begin Vaccination Exercise On Saturday
Lagos State Government, in collaboration with its Development Partners, is set to commence the implementation of another round of house-to-house Polio Outbreak Response across 57 Local Government Areas/Local Council Development Areas of Lagos State Saturday, July 22, 2023.
A statement signed by Dr. Ibrahim A. Mustafa, Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Primary Health Care Board explained that the purpose of the exercise is to give two drops of the Novel Oral Polio vaccine to all children, aged 0 to five years irrespective of their previous immunisation status.
According to him, the vaccination exercise, in partnership with developmental partners like WHO, UNICEF and others, is designed to boost the immunity of the target group against the circulating poliovirus.
Dr. Mustapha said, “During the exercise, Vitamin A supplement will be administered orally to children aged six months to five years while deworming tablets will be given to children aged one to five years. Also, all children under five will be screened for malnutrition using MUAC tapes.
He disclosed that the exercise is scheduled to commence on Saturday 22nd and end on Tuesday 25th of July 2023 from 7.00 am daily, stressing that all facilities where children could be found including primary health centres, hospitals, houses, schools, churches, mosques, markets, shopping malls, playgrounds and gated estates, among others, would be visited without exception.
Enjoining Lagos residents to cooperate with the government officials during the exercise by making their children available in order to eradicate other forms of Circulating Poliovirus (CVPV2) currently in some areas of the State, Dr. Mustapha assured the public that the Polio vaccine is not only safe but also free and very effective.
