Adamawa targets over 1.3m children in fresh polio vaccination

The Adamawa State Government is set to commence a fresh round of anti-polio vaccination targeting more than 1.3 million children.

Addressing a media dialogue on Wednesday on the exercise, scheduled for December 6 to 9, 2025, the executive chairman of the Adamawa State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Bashir Usman, explained why Nigeria continues with routine immunisation against polio.

He told journalists and social media influencers who attended the media dialogue, organised by his agency with support from UNICEF, that Nigerians are widely travelled people who could reintroduce the virus if Nigerian children are not adequately fortified.

He recalled that Nigeria was declared free of wild polio as far back as 2016 and certified as such three years later, but stressed that concerns remain about the possibility of travellers bringing in the virus and triggering a fresh spread among Nigerian children who remain susceptible unless repeated vaccination is sustained.

He said: “This is why we have to be vigilant and this is why we have to build our defense so that we don’t have it back in our country.”

He urged media practitioners at the dialogue, which took place in Yola, to use their various platforms to sensitise residents of Adamawa to present their children for the vaccination exercise, assuring that the vaccine is safe.

The vaccination exercise targets over 1.3 million children aged 59 months and below across the 226 wards of the 21 local government areas of Adamawa State.