• Between January and June, 606,000 children were vaccinated against 643,000 children vaccinated last year within the same period.
•This means that more than 40,000 children have missed out on life saving vaccines within the first half of this year alone.
Image: D POLAND/PATH
A child born today has less than 20 per cent chances of being fully vaccinated by the age of five due to Covid-19 disruptions, WHO and Unicef have warned.
The agencies have warned of an alarming decline in the number of children receiving life-saving vaccines around the world due to disruptions in the delivery and uptake of immunization services caused by the pandemic.
Preliminary data for the first four months of 2020 points to a substantial drop in the number of children completing three doses of the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP3).
Kenya is among countries that have seen a decline in the immunisation performance as a result of Covid-19 disruptions.
For instance, between January and June, 606,000 children were vaccinated against 643,000 children vaccinated last year within the same period.
This means that more than 40,000 children have missed out on life saving vaccines within the first half of this year alone.
Head of immunisation programmes in Kenya Dr Collins Tabu while speaking to the Star on the phone on Thursday however noted that the vaccine supply has not been affected, adding that the marginal decline in the number of those coming for vaccination is what the country is trying to address.
“Yes, we have had a marginal decline in the immunisation performance for the same period last year. We are making sure that we have vaccination supplies in every health facility in uninterrupted manner,” Tabu said.
On average, about 107,000 children would be vaccinated per month with each vaccine before the Cocid-19 pandemic, but data from the ministry shows that during Covid the figure has declined to 98,000 children per month.
During the offset of the pandemic, the ministry issued guidelines for health facilities to follow to offer immunisation services in a safe manner even with the ongoing pandemic.
For instance children who are well and are just coming for growth monitoring and vaccination services and nutrition and will be attended to in separate areas where other sick children are attended to.
In the past all children were seen together whether they were sick or well. But for, hospitals will be required to provide separate stations for children who are well.
“We are also working with the counties to organise for accelerated outreaches to reach the children that may have missed the vaccine and respond appropriately to prevent any outbreak.”
According to the WHO and Unicef, nearly 14 million children missed out on life-saving vaccines such as measles and DTP3 in 2019, comprising of mostly children in Africa who are likely to lack access to other health services.
The agencies have noted that even when services are offered, people are either unable to access them because of reluctance to leave home, transport interruptions, economic hardships, restrictions on movement, or fear of being exposed to people with the virus.
Many health workers are also unavailable because of restrictions on travel or redeployment to Covid-19 response duties as well as a lack of protective equipment.
“Covid-19 has made previously routine vaccination a daunting challenge. We must prevent a further deterioration in vaccine coverage and urgently resume vaccination programs before children’s lives are threatened by other diseases. We cannot trade one health crisis for another,” Unicef Executive Director Henrietta Fore said “
WHO Director General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus said the avoidable suffering and death caused by children missing out on routine immunizations could be far greater than Covid-19 itself.
“But it doesn’t have to be that way. Vaccines can be delivered safely even during the pandemic, and we are calling on countries to ensure these essential life-saving programmes continue,” Ghebreyesus said.
The DG noted that vaccines have proven to be one of the most powerful tools in the history of public health, and more children are now being immunized than ever before, adding that the pandemic has put the gains at risk.