Babies miss vaccines as parents shun hospitals for fear of Covid
By George Kebaso, December 7, 2020George Kebaso @Morarak
Zuena Macharia’s 11-month-old baby missed her third and most important injection, the Pentavalent Vaccine, which she was supposed to get in September.
Like millions other Kenyans she feared going to a health facility due to the surging Covid-19 infections in the country.
The Pentavalent jab, also known as ‘the 5-in-1 Vaccine’ protects children against diphtheria; tetanus, whooping cough (pertussis), polio and Hib disease (Haemophilus influenzae type b).
However, during the Covid-19 pandemic period, many Kenyan children are feared to have missed the vital injection.
“I have always taken my children for all the mandatory injections, but in September I couldn’t risk going to a health facility because that’s the month we saw a spike in Covid-19 infections and deaths in the country.
I thought going to a hospital could expose us to the disease,” Zuena, a resident of Njathaini village added.
Failing health
Zuena was among close to 1,000 residents from three informal settlements of Juakali, Marurui and Njathaini in Zimmerman Ward, Roysambu sub county who turned up for a free integrated medical campaign last week.
The organisers had expected to attracted 200 people in the two-day programme, but the large crowds that turned out w+as a reflection of how the pandemic had disrupted essential health services in the country.
Margaret Waithera, 70, from Jua Kali informal settlement in Marurui has missed several hospital visits this year despite her failing health.
“I could not even think of going to hospital despite my condition because we were told that Corona is in health facilities. We pray to God to protect us,” she said.
In July this year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations Children Fund (Unicef) warned of an alarming decline in the number of children receiving life-saving vaccines around the world.
They attributed this to disruptions in the delivery and uptake of immunisation services caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last week, experts from WHO Regional Office for Africa cautioned that falling immunisation coverage could lead to outbreaks of other vaccine-preventable diseases.
The call came from the African Regional Immunisation Technical Advisory Group (Ritag), even as it emerged that the Covid-19 pandemic risks undermining the successes of immunisation programmes in Kenya, which were on track. Kenya was beginning a transition to fully-financing vaccine purchases by 2027.
“As we prepare for a Covid-19 vaccine, we must ensure that the life-saving vaccines we already have reach those most in need,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa during the virtual event to discuss the status of immunisation in the region.
Despite the resilience demonstrated by the country’s health facilities, Mercy Mwangangi, the Chief Administrative Secretary of Health said that the country may have lost many lives a during the pandemic due to lack of access to healthcare services.
“That’s why it is important for us to discuss the different assessments that have been done in order to plan for continuity of essential health services during a time of public health emergency,” she said in a virtual presentation to the Intergovernmental consultation on the continuity of EHS amidst Covid-19 pandemic.
She said the pandemic gives the country an opportunity to put in place an elaborate programme to respond to any public health emergency.
For the last two weeks, the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) with the support of Kenya AIDS NGOs Consortium (KANCO) has been doing community mobilisation.
Elizabeth Muchoki, KANCO’s health systems strengthening manager for immunisation and child health said during the pandemic, hospital visits in Roysambu sub county dropped from 70 percent before Covid to between 25 and 30 per cent.
“We have been supporting Nairobi County in child health and immunisation activities; however, during the Covid period we had a challenge with people failing to take their children to health facilities because they thought that Covid is at the medical centres,” she said.