Kwara begins four-day targeted polio vaccination in 16 LGAs Saturday

The Kwara State Government will on Saturday commence a four-day targeted immunisation exercise across selected wards and settlements in the state’s 16 local government areas to vaccinate children missed during the last oral polio campaign.

The exercise, known as the In-Between Round Immunisation Activity (IBRA), will run from August 15 to August 18, targeting children aged between zero and 59 months.

The Executive Secretary of the Kwara State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Prof Nusirat Elelu, said the intervention was designed to close immunity gaps among children who were either missed or remained unvaccinated during the previous Oral Polio Immunisation exercise.

According to her, the vaccination teams will focus on settlements identified through previous campaign performance data and surveillance findings, particularly communities with low vaccination coverage and areas where eligible children may have been missed.

Elelu said the exercise was aimed at improving vaccination coverage in poorly performing settlements, reducing the number of missed children and strengthening population immunity against poliovirus.

She added that the intervention would contribute to efforts to prevent and interrupt the transmission of the poliovirus.

The executive secretary urged parents and caregivers to cooperate with health workers by making children aged zero to 59 months available for vaccination throughout the four-day exercise.

She stressed that the oral polio vaccine was safe, effective and free, urging parents to ensure that every eligible child receives the vaccine regardless of their previous immunisation status.

“Every dose counts in protecting children from poliovirus and strengthening population immunity,” Elelu said.

She also called on community leaders and other stakeholders to support the vaccination teams to ensure that no eligible child is missed during the exercise.