A baby receives the polio vaccine. [Photo/Daily Nation]
The five-month nurses strike that ended a few weeks ago left over 500,000 children at risk since they missed out on their crucial vaccine putting their lives in danger the Kenya Red Cross Society(KRCS) has said.
KRCS Secretary-general Abbas Gullet said the infants missed their BCG, OPV, and Yellow fever vaccines.
The Red Cross has now started giving the vaccines to the new-born babies in a programme dubbed 'Catch up campaign'.
"The programme has been trying to vaccinate close to half a million newly born babies in the last five months who missed the vaccine due to nurses’ strike,” said Gullet.
"The catch up campaign is an emergency campaign which we wouldn't have had to do it if nurses hadn't gone on strike," he added.Eleven counties from arid and semi-arid areas have been prioritised. These include Turkana, Moyale, Mandera, Wajir, Marsabit, Garissa, Tana River, Samburu, and West Pokot.
KRCS has hired thirty nurses to administer the jab while Unicef and AMref joined in the campaign as partners among many others.