How Kisumu, Vihiga counties target children who missed BCG vaccine jabs
Ms Jael Aran, the Kisumu Central sub-County Immunisation Coordinator, administers a polio vaccine on January 29, 2025, to a newborn who was among the children who missed out on the vaccine due to a shortage in November.
As Ms Nickal Kadogo exited Nyalenda Healthcare and Wellness Centre with her newborn babies on January 29, it felt like a huge load had been lifted off her shoulders.
Her twin baby girls had just received a dose of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), a vaccine that offers protection against tuberculosis.
The vaccine was administered via an injection in the upper left arm of each of the children.
The health worker advised the mother not to apply any ointment or allow water to get to the injected area.
“I am feeling relieved, for weeks, I have been worried about my children’s well-being after missing the lifesaving vaccine,” says Ms Kadogo.
Before going into labour, Ms Kadogo had a clear understanding of the role of vaccines.
She was, however, not aware of the nationwide vaccine shortage.
Earlier last month, health experts raised an alarm over a BCG vaccine shortage across the country.
While confirming the shortage, the Principal Secretary (PS) of Medical Services Harry Kimutai revealed that the government had procured 2.6 million doses of BCG which were expected to arrive in the country towards the end of January.
The Kisumu County immunisations services coordinator Ms Florence Aketch says the devolved unit received 55,000 doses of BCG vaccine two weeks ago, ending the vaccine stock out.
The vaccine, she says, is enough to take the county through the first quarter of the year and has since been distributed to facilities offering vaccination services.
A spot check at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH), Kisumu County Referral Hospital among other health facilities in the county revealed the vaccine availability.
“We are currently vaccinating the children who missed the vaccine in December and part of January, not forgetting those who are due currently,” says Ms Florence.
When she walked into the JOOTRH maternity section on November 9, 2024, Ms Kadogo had looked forward to a safe delivery.
BCG vaccine
On November 10, she gave birth to twins at only 36 weeks of gestation.
The following day, she was discharged from the facility, but the newborns did not receive the BCG vaccine.
The health worker attending to Ms Kadogo told her that the BCG vaccine was out of stock.
The hospital had however promised to get in touch once the vaccines were available.
She left the facility a worried mother. Earlier on, while conducting door-to-door visits, the village Community Health Promoter (CHP) had emphasised she must not leave the hospital without her child getting polio and BCG vaccine.
“It is through her training that I got to understand the important role that vaccines play in our bodies,” says Kadogo.
She had however remained in close contact with her village CHP, constantly asking if the vaccines had been delivered.
Ms Kadogo could however only report to the Nyalenda Health and Wellness Centre, the closest facility to her. It is here that she had also attended all her antenatal clinic visits.
Ms Treezer Ogam, the facility in charge, says the hospital had run out of the vaccine for over two months.
During the period, she says the health facility reported 40 deliveries, unfortunately, the babies were discharged without being vaccinated.
As at the end of January 2025, Ms Ogam says the facility had tracked down 25 mothers and had their babies vaccinated.
“We are hoping to vaccinate the remaining 15 before the end of February. We have their phone contacts and are in close communication with their CHPs,” said Ms Ogam.
She revealed that 10 CHPs attached to the facility have already been briefed about availability of the vaccines and have been tasked with tracing the mothers.
The CHPs, she says, always conduct a monthly household visit within the community and know the location of all the new mothers.
“They know the families and where the mothers stay. They know the children who missed the vaccine and we are sure they will bring them to the facility,” said Ms Ogam.
She added: “We have noticed that most of our mothers are quite keen on immunisations, and they'll come back as scheduled, the CHPs have been doing a good job,” she said.
Ms Kadogo is among the new mothers who have been tracked down at their homes to bring the newborn for vaccination at the health facility.
The mother of two says that after leaving JOOTRH, she immediately informed her village CHP of the new developments.
“The CHP has been checking up on me every month to know how we are faring with the babies. She alerted me that the vaccines had arrived and that I should take my children to be vaccinated,” said Ms Kadogo.
Ms Jael Aran, the Kisumu central sub-County immunisation coordinator says they are targeting to immunize 4,000 vaccine defaulters, a majority being those who missed BCG.
As of the end of January 2024, 1,500 children had been traced down and immunised.
"Our children will be vulnerable to a number of diseases if they miss the vaccine. The government will also end up spending a lot on the treatment of TB, an airborne disease if the children are not vaccinated,” said Ms Aran.
In Vihiga County, a similar programme targeting to track down the children who missed the BCG vaccines through the CHPs has also been launched.
Ms Edith Anjere, the County Immunisation Coordinator says just like Kisumu, Vihiga also ran out of the BCG vaccine in November.
She explained that the county received 23,000 doses of the vaccine in late January and has been working to ensure all the children born between November and January are vaccinated.
“We have records of children between 7000 to 10,000 missing various vaccines including BCG across the county, our goal is to track them down and ensure they receive the lifesaving vaccines,” said Ms Anjere.
She explained that apart from BCG, there are children who also missed measles vaccines earlier last year due to a shortage in some of our facilities.
Other children, she says, ended up missing the vaccines due to the nature of the jobs of their parents and caregivers.
A number of women she says work in the gold mines and end up failing to bring their children to the hospital to get vaccinated.
She revealed that the BCG vaccines have since been distributed in the 98 healthy facilities across the county offering vaccination services.
Easy tracking
The immunisation coordinator says the health facilities are working closely with the CHPs to ensure that all the unvaccinated children are reached.
“Our CHPs are trained on how to check the vaccination booklets and find out those who missed out not only BCG but also other childhood vaccines,” says Ms Anjere.
She added “after learning that we had run out of the vaccines, we advised our medics to note down the contact details of all the new mothers for easy tracking once the vaccines are available,” said Ms Anjere.
Apart from working with the CHPs, Ms Anjere has also revealed that they have been using local radio talk shows to create awareness and demand for the lifesaving vaccines.
The vaccination program, she said, is being supported by the County governments in partnership with the World Health Organization, PATH, United Nations Children's Fund and the Clinton Health Access Initiative.
Last month, the Director General of Health Dr Patrick Amoth announced that 2.3 million doses of BCG and seven million doses of Measles-Rubella vaccine had been delivered to the regional depots across the country ending the stock out.
The distribution follows what officials described as a global procurement delay that had threatened the country's routine immunisation programme.
While speaking on January 22, 2025, Dr Amoth announced that Nairobi received the largest allocation of doses, 450,000.
The distribution breakdown shows Kisumu depot receiving 300,000 doses, Eldoret 290,000 doses, Kakamega 276,000 doses, and Nakuru 264,000 doses.
Coastal and northeastern regions, served by Mombasa and Garissa depots, each received 120,000 doses, while Meru and Nyeri counties were allocated 90,000 doses each.
