Vaccine burden to ease as baby's six jabs merged into one

Babies born later this year could get one vaccine to protect them against six diseases if Kenya receives funding to buy the jab.

The six-in-one jab means parents will not need to take their babies to health facilities many times for vaccination.

Kenya already has a five-in-one (pentavalent) vaccine that protects against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type B.

The new combination jab contains an additional inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) and babies who receive it will no longer require a separate polio vaccine.

Gavi, the vaccines alliance that buys most vaccines for Kenya, said the country can apply for funding to buy the new jab. The earliest deliveries would come at the end of this year.

“A window will now be opened for countries to apply for funding,” it said in a statement. “Gavi and Alliance partners will provide support to countries who are currently administering pentavalent vaccine and want to make the switch, and work with manufacturers to ensure the health of both the pentavalent and IPV markets.”

Some parents said they were worried that babies getting one shot with many vaccines would cause the vaccines to interfere with each other, or be too much for their baby's immune system.

However, experts assured they are safe and babies’ bodies can handle many vaccines at once.

The six-in-one, also called hexavalent vaccine, is already available in many rich countries including Mauritius and South Africa.

Gavi said it expects some countries will continue to use the five-in-one vaccine — which protects against the same diseases, minus polio — and give IPV separately.

Currently, countries that access vaccines through Gavi’s programme give three doses of pentavalent and two doses of IPV independently.

Unicef estimated many countries would adopt the new product. It is more expensive but countries will make savings through less storage, and fewer syringes.

“A full hexavalent vaccine is considered a preferred immunisation option … based on less pressure on the health system, less vaccination sessions, assumptions of achieving higher coverage for IPV and finally prevention of premature withdrawal of IPV from countries immunization programmes,” Unicef said.

The vaccine would be given as an injection on the thigh in three doses early in life — at six, 10, and 14 weeks — with a booster shot given at some point between the child’s first and second birthday.

According to the 2022 Kenya Demographic Health Survey, routine immunisation coverage in the country currently stands at 80 per cent.

Counties with the highest coverage of pentavalent vaccine in Kenya include Nakuru, Nyandarua, Mombasa, Vihiga, Murang’a, Tharaka Nithi, Kirinyaga, Migori, Bungoma, Nyamira, Machakos, Samburu and Nairobi, the Ministry of Health says.

Gavi CEO Seth Berkley said the new jab would save more lives.

“While it is crucial to acknowledge the achievements of the past, the continued measure of success will be how we build on these experiences to deliver even more impact in the future,” he said.

Gavi also said the six-in-one would help countries such as Kenya shift from the oral polio vaccine (OPV), which is increasingly being phased out because it contains inactivated virus that has caused infections in some cases.

Children who receive OPV excrete live viruses in their stools, which can be transmitted to other children. If they spread long enough, the viruses can regain the power to paralyse, setting off transmission chains that act like wild polio.

Whooping cough may cause respiratory complications, particularly in babies. Diphtheria is a serious throat infection that may damage essential organs.

Tetanus may lead to muscle spasms and difficulty breathing. Hepatitis B is a viral infection that affects the liver and may eventually lead to severe liver damage later in life. Hib disease may be a mild or severe infection such as meningitis and pneumonia.