Tetanus vaccine unsafe, say Catholics

What you need to know:

  • The statement signed by chairman John Cardinal Njue demanded that no further mass tetanus vaccination campaigns should be undertaken before the vaccine is appropriately tested and proven to be safe.
  • They also fault the government for what they term as its reluctance to receive the results from the laboratories. “It only accepted to do so after Cardinal Njue threatened that Catholics would walk out of the joint exercise,” the statement says.
  • However, Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia reiterated that the vaccine was safe.

The controversy over the tetanus vaccine has resurfaced following a fresh row over the credibility of results of a joint test between the Catholic Church and the ministry of Health.

The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops on Friday issued a statement questioning the manner in which the tests were conducted.

This is despite the fact that the two parties had given the vaccine a clean bill of health last Sunday when they released the outcome of the joint testing.

The statement signed by chairman John Cardinal Njue demanded that no further mass tetanus vaccination campaigns should be undertaken before the vaccine is appropriately tested and proven to be safe.

The bishops accused the government of presenting 40 vials for testing from its stores without consulting the joint committee overseeing the tests.

“The results were loaded onto 19 other vials presented by the joint committee,” the statement notes. According to them, the aim was “to create a dilution and bias of the three vials” out of a bunch of nine that had been presented by the church.

They also fault the government for what they term as its reluctance to receive the results from the laboratories. “It only accepted to do so after Cardinal Njue threatened that Catholics would walk out of the joint exercise,” the statement says.

“In view of these facts, we the Catholic bishops wish to reiterate the vaccine used for the mass tetanus vaccination in March and October 2014 contained some vials laced with beta HGC. We insist that no further vaccinations should be undertaken before the vaccine has been appropriately tested and proven to be safe,” the statement added.

However, Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia reiterated that the vaccine was safe. “This matter has even been confirmed by the joint committee,” he told the Nation on phone. Mr Macharia said all vaccines by WHO and Unicef were adequately tested for safety before being administered in 52 countries.