Children at risk as vaccine shortage hits 10 counties

Ten counties are most affected, with parents forced to travel long distances to neighboring counties to seek these services. 

The shortage has been caused by delays in payment and a reduction in the budget for the procurement and distribution of routine vaccines.

Monday morning at the Baringo Referral Hospital, Estalina Lekalile joined tens of parents who had brought their children for their routine childhood vaccines. 

Estalina had traveled 40 kilometers from Marigat town after being informed of a stock-out of the DPT and rotavirus vaccines needed for her ten-week-old baby.

"Kuna moja alienda Pekera huko akapata tu sindano moja ya two and a half months hakupata ingine mpaka saa hii kama saa hii hiyo mwezi mbili na two weeks anapata moja alafu anarudi nyumbani tunasubiri mpaka next month kama tutapata tena," said Estalina. 

She explained that one mother had gone to Pekera only to find a single dose of the vaccine needed at two and a half months, and that they had to return home and wait until the next month to possibly get another dose.

Winnie Bore, the Chief Officer of Health in Baringo, confirmed the severity of the situation. "We do not have the tetanus diphtheria vaccine and the oral polio vaccine, but currently we are also running low on the rota vaccine, the BCG, and other vaccines for which we have limited stock," she said.

In a letter from the Council of Governors to the Ministry of Health, it was revealed that counties have been grappling with the thinning supply of six routine vaccines, putting hundreds of thousands of babies at risk. 

The most affected counties include Baringo, Elgeyo Marakwet, Nyamira, Kilifi, Siaya, and Migori. 

According to documents seen by Citizen TV, the shortage has been caused by a significant cut in the Ministry of Health's budget, which received only 1.2 billion shillings for vaccine procurement, down from the annual allocation of 2.6 billion shillings.

This financial crunch has led to unpaid bills under the co-funding model supported by donors, with Kenya now in arrears amounting to 4.5 billion shillings. 

The current stock of vaccines is approaching a critical low, threatening a nationwide stock-out in two months' time.

Lena Kosgey, Head of Immunization in Baringo, expressed deep concern about the potential resurgence of preventable diseases. 

"If we do not get these vaccines for a long time, then those diseases may come back to our communities. That is our main worry now, but we hope that the national government will keep its promise, as it said it will ensure the supply of vaccines by mid next month," she stated.

The budget cut means that Kenya may lose 6.5 billion shillings in donor support for vaccine procurement and immunization programs, jeopardizing the country’s goal of achieving self-reliance by 2030.