By Samuel Ouma
The second round of vaccination against polio in Kenya is set to kick off tomorrow, Saturday, June 19, 2020, amid a surge in Covid-19 cases.
The exercise begins three weeks after the first round that took place between May 22 and May 26.
Kenya embarked on vaccination against the disease after six polio cases were detected in its Mombasa and Garissa counties.
Out of the six cases, three were discovered from healthy children who had arrived in Somalia, with others detected in sewage, one in Garissa and the remaining two in Mombasa.
The campaign targets over 3.4 million children below five years from 13 counties. The counties are Nairobi, Mombasa, Kajiado, Kilifi, Kiambu, Machakos, Lamu, Tana River, Kitui, wajir, Isiolo, Mandera and Garissa.
The country's health ministry has urged all parents, guardians, religious leaders, communities, community elders living in the targeted areas to ensure children are vaccinated.
Emmanuel Okunga, head of disease surveillance and epidemic response at the ministry, said some of the outbreaks in the East African nation come from neighbouring countries.
“We intend to get at least 95 per cent of all of all children in the country vaccinated but sometimes because of challenges of the border and other issues, we do not reach that target,” said Okunga.