March 2022: Kenya plans YF vaccination drive

Kenya is planning a yellow fever vaccination drive in response to an outbreak declared on March 4 in central Kenya’s Isiolo county (around 167 miles north of Nairobi). The government, WHO, and partners have mobilized resources to support response activities, including a proposed vaccine provision request to the International Coordinating Group (ICG) for reactive yellow fever vaccination in Isiolo, with possible extension to any other counties at imminent risk. The national routine immunization schedule includes yellow fever vaccine for 9-month-old children in only four high-risk counties (Baringo, Elgeyo Marakwet, Turkana, West Pokot) in the country’s northwest, yielding an estimated immunization coverage of 7% of the target population. Kenya has not historically conducted large-scale preventive mass vaccination campaigns for the disease. WHO; IFRC