The ongoing health workers' strike in Kisumu County has dealt a blow to the county government's vaccination programs.
These are the children's anti-malaria vaccine program and the cervical cancer vaccination which was set to begin next month, but whose implementation now appears in limbo.
The county says that the strike came after it had dispatched the vaccines to some of the health facilities pending administration to the targeted persons.
However, there is fear that the vaccines might not reach the targets, considering that all the 132 public health facilities in the county have since closed down due to the strike.
Lilian Dayo, the officer in charge of the malaria vaccine whose administration is already in progress said that residents can get it at the private facilities in the county.
“Due to the ongoing strike, the vaccines are still being packed in public health facilities, only private and faith-based facilities are administering them,” she told the Standard.
This is after the vaccines were dispatched to all the 210 facilities.
County Director of Health Dickens Onyango said that the county leadership will come up with ways of administering the cancer vaccine should the strike persist oast October.
He said that the plans include using schools, in a bid to ensure that as many girls as possible are accessed, in the vaccine targetting girls aged 10.