Lagos State allocates about five per cent of its health budget to immunisation and has achieved a routine coverage rate of 66 per cent, yet between 120,000 and 130,000 children in the state remain completely unvaccinated.
Ibrahim Mustafa, Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Primary Health Care Board, disclosed the figures in an interview marking World Immunisation Week.
“The state now commits a lot of resources to ensure that these vaccines get to the arms of the children,” Mustafa said, adding that agencies, including the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and Gavi, provide additional support.
He attributed a large share of the unvaccinated children to rapid migration into Lagos, where families often arrive with children whose vaccination schedules are incomplete or have not started.
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Many of these children live in hard‑to‑reach communities such as Makoko, parts of Alimosho, and Ikorodu.
On the Human Papillomavirus vaccine, introduced about two years ago for girls aged nine to 14, Mustafa said acceptance has climbed sharply after initial resistance that included physical attacks on vaccinators in Ibeju‑Lekki.
“We moved from very serious hesitancy to strong demand. Now, in many cases, people are asking for the vaccine themselves,” he said, adding that no fewer than 1.5 million girls have now received the HPV vaccine.
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Nigeria has the highest number of zero‑dose children globally, with about 2.1 million recorded in 2023, mostly in northern states.
According to the World Health Organization, vaccines have saved more than 150 million lives over the past 50 years.
World Immunisation Week runs from April 24 to 30, with the theme “For every generation, vaccines work.”
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