Leaders tell clergy to change stance on polio vaccine

Paul Chepkwony Kericho county Governor

Governor Paul Chepkwony and Woman Representative Hellen Chepkwony have told religious leaders to consider the future health of children before "politicising" the ongoing polio vaccination campaign.

The two asked the clergy to reconsider their stand on the matter so that parents do not resist the campaign and expose their children to future health risks for failure to be immunised.

"If a child is denied an opportunity to be vaccinated and God forbid the child is attacked by polio, its life would be needlessly ruined by a disease that can be prevented through vaccination," said Mr Chepkwony.

The governor told the Church and local residents that most of the people who were not vaccinated during their childhood now regret and blame their parents for failing to take them for vaccination when they had a chance.

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And Ms Chepkwony asked local residents to ignore calls by the Catholic Church to boycott the exercise.

"This a Government initiative and even the experts have given the polio vaccine a clean bill of health. It is therefore better to vaccinate the children than to boycott it just because the Church has said so," said the woman rep.

She said the consequences of failing to vaccinate children were more dire than going for it.

The leaders made the remarks during a fundraising at Tulwet in Bureti constituency.

The Catholic Church has insisted the vaccine is contaminated.