Bravo! Nakuru records impressive turnout in Measles and Typhoid vaccination campaign

Nakuru County has recorded a 91 percent turnout in the just-concluded 10-day national vaccination campaign targeting Measles Rubella, and Typhoid.

‎According to Acting County Director of Public Health Gerald Maina, 211,505 children were vaccinated against Measles Rubella out of a target of 231,344, while 709,437 children received the typhoid vaccine out of a target of 782,300.

Naivasha sub-county surpassed its 200,927-target getting 163 and 153 percent on MR and TCV vaccines while Bahati recorded the least uptake recording 58 and 61 percent for MR and TCV vaccines respectively against their 92,480 targets.

‎"The campaign, which began on July 5, saw over 900,000 children vaccinated," Mr Maina notes.

‎Maina adds that although the 10-day campaign has lapsed, the health department will do an additional two days to conduct a mop-up in areas that were not covered during the campaign period.

‎"To close the gap and reach children who may have been left out during the initial phase, the county is rolling out a two-day mop-up exercise on July 15 and 16, focusing on hard-to-reach areas and schools that had not yet been covered," he explains. 

In addition to the mop-up, he notes county health facilities will continue to offer the vaccines until July 18 to ensure no child is left behind.

According to him each sub-county has been tasked with identifying coverage gaps and drawing up targeted plans to complete the work within the additional days.

He expressed optimism that the county would hit or even surpass 95 percent coverage by the end of the mop-up and facility-based extension.

“The high turnout is expected to significantly boost herd immunity among children, reduce disease transmission, and lighten the workload in health facilities,” Mr Maina says.

However, Maina reveals that while the response from the public was overwhelmingly positive, there were isolated cases of vaccine refusal, particularly from parents who declined consent for their children to be vaccinated.

The county was targeting 1.3 million children during the 10-day vaccination campaign.