From Garba Abdullahi Bagwai in Kano
The Kano State Government has said it will vaccinate 3,024,026 children aged between zero and 59 months against poliovirus during its November 2026 immunisation campaign across 30 high-risk local government areas of the state.
The Head of the Public Enlightenment Unit of the Kano State Primary Healthcare Management Board, Dr Rabiu Ibrahim, disclosed this on Thursday during a one-day media conference organised ahead of the forthcoming Sub-National Immunisation Plus Days (SNIPDs).
He said the decision to focus on 30 local government areas was informed by risk assessments and reports of a fresh outbreak of poliovirus in Kumbotso Local Government Area.
Ibrahim said the state had received 3,568,300 doses of oral polio vaccine from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency to cover the targeted children.
He explained that the campaign, scheduled to take place from November 7 to 10, would adopt a house-to-house vaccination strategy, alongside fixed vaccination posts at health facilities and special teams deployed to schools and other public places.
According to him, trained health workers would visit households to administer two drops of the oral polio vaccine to every eligible child under five years of age.
He added that temporary vaccination centres would also be established at the residences of ward heads to improve access to the exercise.
The official said vaccination teams would visit schools in collaboration with school authorities to identify and immunise eligible children who might have missed previous vaccination exercises.
Ibrahim urged journalists, social media influencers and U-Reporters to intensify public enlightenment efforts and counter misinformation capable of discouraging parents from presenting their children for vaccination.
He also called for the involvement of religious and community leaders in building public confidence, addressing misconceptions and encouraging caregivers to cooperate with vaccination teams.
The official further advised parents and caregivers to ensure that their children received the vaccine before their fingers were marked with indelible ink by vaccination personnel.
He explained that the procedure was necessary to prevent situations in which children were marked without actually receiving the vaccine, particularly when vaccination teams were in a hurry to move to other households.
The media conference was organised by the Kano State Primary Healthcare Management Board in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency to strengthen media engagement and public awareness ahead of the vaccination campaign.
