Lagos Immunisation Coverage Reaches 66%, But 130,000 Children Still Need Vaccines

Lagos is putting serious money into immunisation. About 5% of the state’s health budget now supports vaccine delivery, cold storage, logistics, and outreach.

That effort is showing results. Lagos has reached 66% routine immunisation coverage and has vaccinated over 1.5 million girls against HPV.

It has also left between 120,000 and 130,000 children completely unvaccinated.

Both facts are true, and neither cancels the other.

Ibrahim Mustafa, Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Primary Health Care Board, laid out the full picture in an interview this week marking World Immunisation Week, observed globally from April 24 to 30.

What 5% of a Health Budget Actually Buys

The money doesn’t go only to vaccines. Federal supply channels cover the vaccines themselves through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency. Lagos’s state funding goes primarily into the infrastructure that makes those vaccines usable  cold chain systems, logistics, and last-mile delivery to health facilities across one of the world’s most densely populated cities.

International partners fill additional gaps. The World Health Organization, UNICEF, Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, and AFENET all support Lagos’s immunisation programme, providing technical assistance and supplementary funding that the state budget alone cannot sustain.

“The state now commits a lot of resources to ensure that these vaccines get to the arms of the children,” Mustafa said..

130,000 Children the System Cannot Find

A 66% coverage rate sounds solid until you calculate what it leaves behind. In a city the size of Lagos, one-third unreached is not a rounding error  it is a public health problem with a geographic and demographic address.

Nigeria carries the heaviest zero-dose burden in the world  approximately 2.1 million unvaccinated children recorded in 2023, with the majority concentrated in the north. Lagos, despite being a relatively strong performer, is not immune to the national pattern.

Its zero-dose population sits in the city’s margins, in communities that formal health infrastructure has historically underserved.

Why This Matters

Vaccines protect children from diseases that can be prevented. They also protect communities by reducing the spread of illness.

Lagos has made progress, but the real test is reaching the children who are still outside the system.

The next step is clear: take immunisation deeper into informal communities, not just wait for families to come to health centres.

Public health practitioners working across sub-Saharan Africa have consistently noted that zero-dose concentration in urban informal settlements reflects a structural gap in how city health systems are designed  typically around fixed, formal facilities that mobile or transient populations cannot access reliably. 

Community health worker programmes embedded within informal settlements, rather than deployed to them from outside, have shown stronger results in comparable contexts across East and West Africa.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Lagos’s routine immunisation coverage rate? Lagos has achieved a 66% routine immunisation coverage rate, according to the Lagos State Primary Health Care Board.

How much does Lagos spend on immunisation? Approximately 5% of the state’s health budget supports immunisation, covering logistics, cold chain systems, and service delivery. Federal agencies and international partners including Gavi, WHO, and UNICEF provide additional support.

What is a zero-dose child? A zero-dose child has received no routine vaccines at all. This increases individual vulnerability to preventable diseases and weakens broader herd immunity within communities.

How many zero-dose children are in Lagos? Between 120,000 and 130,000, concentrated in informal communities including Makoko, parts of Alimosho, and Ikorodu.