Ahead of 2022 hajj exercise, the Lagos State Government has concluded an arrangement with the Federal Ministry of Health to immunize the over 1,500 intending Hajj pilgrims ahead of their airlifting to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the religious rites.
The State Government through its Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, said that the exercise would prevent them from contracting any disease during their movement to and from the state.
Commissioner for Home Affairs, Anofiu Elegushi, said that the inoculation exercise is a critical medical exercise that must be fulfilled by the intending pilgrims before embarking on the journey.
Elegushi disclosed the planned immunization during the board’s meeting after a review of the just concluded and successful medical screening for all the intending pilgrims last week.
stressed that each of the intending pilgrims would be administered the Yellow fever, Oral polio as well as the Menegites vaccines in line with the requirements for international travels and to protect them against any contagious diseases.
According to the statement, the exercise will commence on Monday 30th May and end on Thursday 2nd June, 2022 at the Shamsi Adisa Thomas (SAT) Mosque Hall, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos.
The Commissioner, in a statement signed by the Board Secretary, Hakeem Kosoko, urged all of them to ensure that they attend the exercise because of its importance and benefits, as scheduled by the Board on Local Government basis.
Elegushi also reiterated the importance of the COVID-19 Booster jab. He said that it is compulsory for every intending pilgrim to get the complete doses of the coronavirus vaccination and ensure that they are well captured in the computer, saying that any intending pilgrim without the complete doses would be denied entry into the Kingdom.
It would be recalled that the Lagos State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board in collaboration with the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) carried out a compulsory medical screening for all the intending pilgrims to ascertain their health status last week.
The inoculation exercise which is a follow-up to the medical screening is a final step towards ensuring that the intending pilgrims are placed medically on a clean bill of health before their journey and stay healthy throughout their stay in the Holy land to face and withstand the rigour of the spiritual exercise.
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