Over 200,000 children set to receive oral polio vaccine in Mandera County

Minhaj Hassan of Core Group Partners Project vaccinates Abdi Hussein at Mandera County Referral Hospital on October 7, 2023. [Ibrahim Adan Ali, Standard]

Omar urged all the health personnel and community health volunteers to maximize the vaccination and reach out to all hard-to-reach areas in the county

"The total target population for this nOPV2 campaign is 268,678 children in Mandera County. We must endeavour to reach 100% of this target," said Omar.

While acknowledging the support of the Ministry of Health and the Polio Project Core Group among other partners, the CEC called for full protection of all children against polio disease

"Your commitment and support are at the forefront of our battle against poliovirus disease. let us seize this opportunity to protect our children from the devastating effects of poliovirus disease," he said

According to Abukar Siraj, Global Health Security Coordinator of Core group partners project and ADRA Kenya, 66 teams will be vaccinating at border crossing areas and nomadic settlements across the seven sub-counties along Somalia and Ethiopia's borders.

"We have engaged 66 health volunteers across seven sub-counties who will be delivering the vaccine to our children living along the borderlines with Somalia and Ethiopia," said Siraj.

The campaign will run from Saturday, October 7, 2023, to Friday, October 13, 2023, targeting all children under five years of age across the county.