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In 2013, Kenya experienced multiple importations of the wild poliovirus.
For the first time ever, in December, the inactivated polio vaccine
was administered along with the oral polio vaccine
and vitamin A in the Dadaab refugee camps
and the neighboring host communities.
"In Dadaab, we are here to support the Ministry of Health to implement
immunization of children
under five years of age
in the camps and five divisions
immediately surrounding the camps.
This time, we are including injectable polio vaccine,
which in short we call 'IPV'.
The reason is that IPV,
when combined with OPV,
improves the immunity of the target group.
We want to make sure there will be better immunity gained among the children."
Social mobilizers from the community, such as local and religious leaders,
explain to mothers the importance of getting their children vaccinated.
Flipcharts and other tools are used to spread polio messages.
"The polio campaign is so important because it protects kids from poliomyletis, which can
lead to paralysis of kids. Today we are giving
polio vaccine both intramuscularly
and oral polio. Once one case
has been confirmed,
we prefer the mass vaccination for the kids
under five years because they are mostly the kids at risk of the disease."
During the December round,
more than 120,000 children under the
age of 5 were vaccinated with the injectable polio vaccine,
while more than 530,000
received the oral polio vaccine.
To reach and vaccinate every single child, vaccination teams
face a number of challenges, including insecurity,
walking long distances and making sure that the ice packs do not melt,
to keep the vaccine safe.
"We are vaccinating the children who are under 5 years for polio vaccination,
and we are very happy that we get the opportunities today. Before we give people,
children polio vaccination for oral polio vaccine but now really they have improved
and they have added polio injection.