Nyamira county health director Dr Jack Magara has called on residents to vaccinate their children of below 5 years in the upcoming vaccination exercise scheduled to be begin on Saturday August 1.
The exercise which has received opposition from the Catholic Church, he said is safe and has gone through rigorous safety measures. He called on the parents to take their children to vaccination as it will be against the law to deny a person the right to medication.
“The disease has no cure and we can only prevent it by vaccination, I encourage the parents in the county to vaccinate their children below 5 years of age. It is against the law if one is found denying the child the right to medication," said Magara.
He urged the parents to ignore calls from a section of religious groups calling for the suspension of the campaign claiming that the vaccine is not safe for the children on grounds that it is disguised family planning. He said that the polio vaccine has not been changed from the usual one which they receive in the routine immunisation programmes.
“The vaccine is the same one we give our children in the routine immunisation exercises and it’s for prevention of polio and nothing else, I urge the parents to ignore rumours, we’d rather prevent that cure," he concluded.
The exercise is conducted annually and normally conducted from house to house to reach all children in remote areas.
Polio which is a viral disease if not prevented can cause paralysis and even death.