The Health ministry has postponed polio vaccination in Nairobi county because vaccine shipments have been delayed
The drive was to start on Saturday in Nairobi and a number of other counties. It was not clear if shipments to other countries have also been delayed.
The Nairobi campaign will take place from July 20 to 24.
The earliest the vaccines will be delivered in the county will be on July 15, a notice from the ministry to the county said.
"We had planned a door-to-door campaign and also visits to public places but we shall embark on this immediately the vaccines are here," county Health executive Mohammed Dagane told the Star on Friday.
The campaign targets more than 2.6 million children under the age of five years in 11 counties: Nairobi, Kilifi, Isiolo, Mombasa, Tana River, Lamu, Marsabit, Turkana, Wajir, Garissa and Mandera.
Polio is a crippling and sometimes fatal disease.
On April 6, 2018, Kenya Medical Research Institute personnel found live polio viruses in sewage samples from Nairobi’s Eastleigh estate during a routine check.
The Health ministry immediately launched vaccination campaigns.
The fight against polio has been seriously undermined by the influx of refugees from Somalia and other neighbouring countries.
The ministry has stepped up surveillance to detect the disease.
(Edited by V. Graham)
