BY ADEYEMI AKANJI, BAUCHI – The ongoing vaccination against yellow fever in Bauchi state has witnessed a low turnout of the target audience of between nine months and 44 years old on Day-one.
Checks by our correspondent at some of the designated centers for the exercise within Bauchi metropolis and adjoining settlements revealed that only a handful of people mostly children are being vaccinated.
At the back of the Emir’s Palace PHC in Bauchi, only women were seen with their children turning out for the vaccination as was confirmed by some of the officials conducting the exercise.
Some of the women who volunteered to talk, said that they brought their children to be vaccinated based on the explanation during the awareness campaign before the commencement of the exercise on Monday.
Reacting to the development, the Executive Chairman of BASPHCDA, Dr Rilwanu Mohammed expressed optimism that the turnout will improve as the exercise goes on, saying that it will last for 10 days.
Mohammed added that the Agency has made adequate preparation for the exercise, adding that vaccines doses over 7 million have been procured and stored at the various cold rooms for the target audience.
He also said that the agency has made preparations for allowance for all the teams that have been engaged for the 10 days exercise, saying that not less than N30m will be expended for the exercise.
Mohammed appealed to the people that are targeted to as a matter of necessity come out for the vaccination against yellow fever.
He assured that the vaccination is very potent in protecting people from being infected.
