2.2 Million Nigerian Children Miss Life-Saving Vaccines, UNICEF Sounds Alarm

The United Nations Children’s Fund says Nigeria now has about 2.2 million ‘zero-dose’ children – the highest number in Africa. Many live in fragile urban settlements, conflict-affected areas, border communities, and other hard-to-reach regions with no access to essential immunisation. The warning came during the launch of a targeted routine immunisation programme in Badagry, Lagos State. Backed by UNICEF, the Republic of Korea, and the Nigerian government, this initiative aims to reach children who have never received a single vaccine dose. UNICEF’s Nigeria representative stressed that these are not mere statistics but real lives at risk. She said the crisis reflects deep-rooted inequalities in access, not a failure of medical science, and described the Badagry programme as a political and moral commitment to every Nigerian child’s right to lifesaving vaccines.

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