Rapogi Boys Secondary Schools is among the schools in Migori County that have been accused of hindering the process of COVID-19 vaccination which is intended for learners of age 15 and above.
The school which is located in the Uriri area is one of the schools that has been targeted for the vaccination push in the county.
It has been reported that health officers who were directed to vaccinate learners against COVID-19 in the school were thwarted on Friday.
According to Migori County Director of Public Health Mr Kennedy Ombogo, the health officers were only allowed to access the institution during the weekend. This meant that they only vaccinated 220 students. The total population of students in the school is around 1500.
Besides, Mr Ombogo revealed that even though the government has directed teachers to take the jab, some teachers in the institution have not received even the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination. This behaviour will likely put their students at a huge risk of contracting COVID-19. This could in turn cause a ripple effect and result in infections among family members.
Mr Ombogo warned teachers that hindering the government’s initiative to vaccinate learners is a crime that will be punished by law.
However, Rapogi School principal Mr Stephene Abongo denied the allegations, saying that no medical officer has been barred from accessing the institution.
The Migori County Department of Health is targeting to vaccinate 122,000 people in the 10-day Rapid Response Initiative (RRI).
So far, the Migori County Department of Health has administered 144,015 vaccines to people in Migori County out of the targeted 560,000.
Teenagers aged between 15 to 18 years were vaccinated last year with the Pfizer vaccines. The Pharmacy and Poisons Board review conducted a review of the data and found out that Pfizer was safe to be used on children from the age of 12 onwards.
The vaccination of children was vindicated by the fact that while there is a low risk of becoming severely sick with COVID-19 as compared to adults, vaccinating them could prevent them from spreading the virus to more vulnerable adults.
A group of medical researchers is preparing to conduct a study to investigate the impact of the novel-COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of learners in Kenyan Primary and Secondary schools.