The Benue State Government has announced that over 300 children residing in the temporary Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp for Yelewata residents have been vaccinated against Measles Rubella (MR) and Oral Polio Virus (OPV).
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the displaced persons from Yelewata are currently sheltered at the Makurdi International Market premises.
NAN further reported that the government had launched a broad, integrated vaccination campaign aimed at protecting children from several preventable diseases, including measles, rubella, polio, and HPV.
Mrs. Benedicta Aboh, Chief Supervisor of the Integrated Vaccination Campaign Fixed Team, informed journalists in Makurdi on Sunday that the immunisation exercise began on Saturday.
Aboh explained that although her team operates in Guma Local Government Area, the Yelewata IDPs fall within their coverage zone, which is why they extended their services to the camp to reach all eligible children.
She revealed that more than 250 children received vaccinations on the first day alone. The team provided routine immunisations for children aged 0–23 months, MR for those aged nine months to 14 years, OPV for children aged 0–59 months, Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines for girls aged nine years, treatment for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), and Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC).
Aboh noted that there had been no recorded cases of vaccine refusal or zero-dose children so far. She added that the team planned additional rounds of immunisation due to the large turnout at the camp.
Meanwhile, the State Immunisation Officer, Mr. Innocent Adega, told NAN via telephone that Benue State had received 2.7 million doses of MR vaccines and 2.3 million doses of OPV for the campaign.
He clarified that the programme was part of an integrated immunisation effort, which also included other routine vaccines.
Adega stated that “a total of 1,110 fixed teams and 1,274 sweep teams (house-to-house)” had been deployed across the 23 Local Government Areas to ensure full coverage.
He added that the campaign would run for 10 days from October 18 to 27 with two extra days allocated for mop-up activities.
According to him, the exercise has been progressing effectively, with no major challenges encountered so far.
