The Department of Health in Malindi Sub County is targeting to vaccinate 70,078 infants in the ongoing vaccination campaign that kicked off on Saturday.
The Sub County Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Hubess Sultan, told journalists in Malindi on Monday that health workers had already immunized 31,231 (about 40 percent of the target) in the first two days of the exercise.
The campaign, which is funded by the United Nation Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is being conducted in eleven counties regarded as high risk countrywide, Dr. Sultan said.
In Malindi Sub County, health workers are expected to conduct house to house immunization of the infants in Shella, Malindi Town, Ganda, Kakuyuni and Jilore wards by the end of the exercise on Wednesday.
“We have enough trained personnel who are moving from house to house, in bus stations, in schools, and in public health centres”, he said, adding, “We also have enough vaccines as per our target.”
He urged parents and guardians to ensure that their children aged below five years are immunized against the deadly disease to prevent them from contracting it.
He further explained that the polio immunization is being conducted following a polio outbreak in neighbouring Ethiopia and Somalia and that the eleven counties had been targeted since they share international borders.
He said more than 2 million children are targeted to be immunized in Kilifi, Turkana, Wajir, Isiolo, Marsabit, Mombasa, Nairobi, Lamu, Mandera, Tana River, and Garrisa counties.
Dr. Sultan said that his department was using social mobilization, spot announcements, public forums and barazas in order to meet its target.
By Purity Mutheu/Emmanuel Masha
