Will catholic church okay March malaria vaccine?

A child gets the RTS,S malaria vaccine during the clinical trials. / FILE

As Kenya is set be the first country in the world to introduce the malaria vaccine in March 2019, there are growing concerns on whether Catholic church will oppose it.

In the recent past, the Catholic church had urged Kenyans to ignore similar vaccinations. For example, the church was opposed to the tetanus and polio jab drive which was conducted in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Nairobi Catholic Archbishop John Njue had advised Kenyans to keep off the jab until the safety of the vaccine was established through testing and documentation by manufacturers.

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Currently, at least 120,000 children are expected to get the vaccine in select hospitals in Kakamega, Vihiga, Bungoma, Busia, Kisumu, Homa Bay, Migori and Siaya counties.

The vaccine Mosquirix will be given to children aged six months to 24 months in four doses.

The four doses will be administered at six, seven, nine and 24 months through an injection on the upper arm.

The Ministry of Health is expected to formally make the announcement soon.

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Details of the expected roll-out emerged in a stakeholders meeting organised in Nairobi by the ministry yesterday.

The pilot roll-out will assess the feasibility of delivering four doses in real-life settings, and assess the vaccine’s potential to reduce child deaths.

The pilot has faced various delays as it was first scheduled for October 2018.

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“We may have been over-optimistic with the timelines,” David Schellenberg, scientific adviser to the World Health Organization’s Global Malaria Programme, said recently.

WHO is supporting the introduction of the vaccine in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi.

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