By Jutha Gupah, Maiduguri
The Borno State Health Commissioner, Dr. Haruna Mshelia has declared that the first cholera new vaccine; has 80 per cent efficacy when administered on people from contracting the water borne disease that claimed 48 lives in the state.
Announcing the new vaccine on Tuesday at the Muna Garage Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp, Maiduguri, he said the 915, 005 doses of new vaccine against cholera, was the first of its kind to be used in the country for massive immunizations.
“Since the outbreak of cholera on August 16, 2017 in Borno state,
cholera has infected 2, 627 people with a current death toll of 48,”
he said.
He said during the five-day immunization exercise in Maiduguri
metropolis and 10 IDPs’ camps, people above the age of one, can take
it without any side effects from being infected and killed by cholera.
He allayed the fears of traditional and religious leaders that the
vaccine, was not against fertility among girls and women living in
camps and host communities.
“After the Deputy Governor, Alhaji Usman Durkwa flagged of the
immunization of about one million Maiduguri residents and IDPs; I took the cholera vaccine along with the Head of Service, Yerima Saleh and other top government officials. One of the finger nails is marked with an ink to prevent being immunized for more than once,” said Dr.
Mshelia.
