Following the looming crisis of the shortage of a vital vaccine Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) at the Coast, parents are the most worried lot and have expressed fear for the health of their newborn babies.
Speaking to this writer, Sister Agatha who is a children specialist in one of the government hospitals in the county acknowledged the deficit of the vaccine and said that most of the parents cant afford to pay a fee of Sh3,500 shillings for the same vaccine in private hospitals hence posing grave danger to the newborns.
Ms Halima Othman a mother to a 4-month newborn has not received the vaccine yet and cant also afford to raise the desired amount by private hospitals.
The life-saving vaccine which protects children against tuberculosis and Meningitis has been out of stock for over 6 months now.
However, the health cabinet secretary, Cleophas Mailu has said that the ministry of health has already procured for 4.7 million doses through UNICEF and cited the shortage as international.