USAID 4TheChild Integrates COVID-19 Vaccination into Registration of Boda-Boda Operators in Kisumu County
A healthcare worker (in white apron) sensitizing boda-boda riders on COVID-19 vaccination while they queue for the NTSA registration.
USAID 4TheChild, with support from the American Rescue Plan Act for 2021 (ARPA) funds through USAID, has partnered with Kisumu County leadership, community leaders, and local organizations to create demand for uptake of COVID-19 vaccination in Kisumu Central, Kisumu East, Muhoroni, and Nyando sub-counties in Kisumu County. The short-term project is employing mixed strategies to achieve its objectives, including digital platforms, local mass media, community mobilization campaigns, as well as community-wide outreaches.
Moi University College of Health Sciences is the prime recipient for the USAID 4TheChild program which is implemented through AMPATH in Bungoma, Busia, Kakamega, Kisumu and Siaya counties.
The launch of the NTSA registration of boda-boda riders at the Huduma Centre, Kisumu.
According to the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), the boda-boda sector provides one million direct jobs for riders in Kenya. Each rider is estimated to make about 15 trips per day, which underscores their very frequent day-to-day interaction with the general population. The boda-boda operators, therefore, remain at risk of acquiring and/or transmitting COVID-19 in the community. Yet, the boda-boda sector is also one of the highly unregulated sectors in the country and a difficult group to target with services, including COVID-19 services. To streamline their operations, the Government of Kenya, through NTSA, officially launched the registration and subsequent issuance of smart driving licenses to qualified boda-boda riders on 28th March 2022 across over 52 Huduma Centers nationally.
It is against this background that the project collaborated with the Kisumu County Department of Health, NTSA, National Government Administration Officers, and the leadership of boda-boda riders in Kisumu County to integrate COVID-19 vaccination into the 60-day registration process.
“The boda-boda riders undergoing the NTSA registration at Huduma Center are urged to pass through the project’s COVID-19 Vaccination Desk to confirm their vaccination status in the Ministry of Health Chanjo System,” said Joseph Onyango, the ARPA Project Officer. “Even so, the riders have an option of opting out of the vaccination if they so wish.”
“Besides involving the boda-boda leadership in the ARPA project planning, we have engaged them as Champions in the COVID-19 vaccination demand creation process,” said Kenneth Otieno, the USAID 4TheChild Acting Chief of Party. “The leaders, therefore, form part of our team that helps mobilize boda-boda riders to access COVID-19 vaccines.”
As of 25th May 2022, 3,812 boda-boda riders had been vaccinated against COVID-19 with 73 percent (2,783) receiving their first dosage.
“Combining the COVID-19 vaccination with the NTSA boda-boda registration process in Kisumu County brought the vaccines closer to our riders who are usually busy on the road and have little time to visit health facilities to queue for the vaccines,” said Patrick Abuti, the Kisumu County Boda-Boda Riders Chairman, while supervising the vaccination exercise at Huduma Center in Kisumu. “We thank USAID for this support.”