People living with disability (PWD) have appealed to wananchi to ignore social media propaganda and embrace Covid-19 vaccination because the vaccines have the capacity of reducing serious illnesses and admissions.
Speaking today during a press conference in Nakuru town, George Otieno, the Chairman of PWDs in the county, said they fear that the adversity of families who failed to take their children for polio vaccinations in the 1970s might be repeated due to the half-truths being propagated in social media about covid-19 vaccine.
Citing himself as an example, he said had his mother taken him for polio vaccination when he was a child, he would have lived a life without disability since he was born without any deformity.
Otieno said that vaccination saves lives and he’s always at the forefront during the polio vaccination exercises in the country because he doesn’t want any other child to miss on the important life support.
He added that polio mainly affects children under five years, and one in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralyses, like his. But, among those paralyzed, 5 to 10 per cent die when breathing muscles become immobilized.
The chair commended the government for the multiple campaigns against polio because the country was still at risk of importation of the virus from neighbouring countries.
He said just as the polio vaccine has protected many children from paralysis, he was convinced, the covid-19 vaccine has the capacity of shielding and guarding the lives of those who get vaccinated.
Otieno made passionate appeals to all the PWDs in the country to get vaccinated to prevent serious ailments and admissions that are beyond their meagre resources. He declared himself a covid-19 vaccination crusader.
By Veronica Bosibori
