Over 16 million children across Kenya have been vaccinated against typhoid and measles-rubella, following the conclusion of a major 10-day immunization campaign led by the Ministry of Health.
The 10-day countrywide exercise, which ended on Monday, saw an estimated 16.1 million children vaccinated against typhoid achieving an impressive 84 per cent national coverage. In the same breath, more than 5.18 million children received the measles-rubella vaccine, marking 81 per cent coverage.
According to the Ministry of Health, the campaign not only surpassed expectations in terms of reach, but also made a breakthrough in accessing zero-dose children those who had never received any routine immunisation. Over 74,000 such children were identified and vaccinated during the campaign.
“This is a huge win for Kenya, we are grateful to every parent, caregiver, health worker and partner who made this possible. No child should ever be left behind,” the ministry said in a statement released on Monday.
The Ministry stated that the Typhoid vaccine will be part of routine immunisation services in all public health facilities at no cost.
The campaign’s success was due to initiative and collaboration of multi-agencies that include county health teams, caregivers, parents, Ministry of Education,allowed vaccine teams to access schools and partners such as Gavi, WHO, UNICEF, PATH, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), Kenya Red Cross, AMREF, and Polio Core Group.
Parents are being reminded to continue taking their children in for routine vaccinations and rely on credible sources for information about vaccines.
With the nation getting on with developing robust primary health care systems, the government has reaffirmed its determination to ensure that no child is left behind as the country makes gains towards full immunisation coverage
