The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Union (KMPDU) in partnership with People’s Health Movement (PHM) has rolled out a Covid-19 vaccine sensitization exercise in bid to boost uptake in Isiolo.
A recent report by the Ministry of Health placed the county at position 40 and 46 in first dose and booster shot uptake respectively, raising alarm among the health stakeholders.
The one-day exercise conducted in Isiolo town was also aimed at addressing myths and misconceptions that have and continue to hinder vaccination in the county.
“We had a meeting with stakeholders that sought to address low Covid-19 uptake and have established there is inadequate awareness by the locals which we believe has made myths and misconceptions thrive,” said KMPDU representative Dr Dave Ojinjo.
The official revealed that the exercise saw over 50 people get vaccinated both for the first and booster doses.
PHM country coordinator Dan Owala said the project that was rolled out in 2021 sought to address impediments around Covid-19 vaccination in four counties of Kakamega, Kisumu, Isiolo and Nairobi counties that had registered low uptake.
He maintained that although the World Health Organization (WHO) had reported that Coronavirus was no longer a global emergency, it was still posing a health threat to those yet to get a jab.
“Vaccination increases immunity against the virus while also making treatment easy in case one is infected. It is hard to treat an unvaccinated person,” he told The Press Point.
Asked whether the organization would extend the exercise to the interior parts of the county, the official said it would only be possible with help from the county’s health department.
“We had a rough time accessing the vaccines from the referral hospital but we appeal to the county government to partner with us to push the exercise to the pastoralist in the far-flung areas of the county,” said Mr Owala.
