• Mombasa county received 9,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on March 9.
• The county targets to vaccinate some 4,500 health workers, only 1,604 have been vaccinated so far.
A week after Governor Hassan Joho went for the Oxford AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, the number of people who have been vaccinated in Mombasa has doubled.
By Monday last week, only 1,200 people had been vaccinated in the county.
However, after Joho got the jab on Tuesday last week, the number of people vaccinated in Mombasa shot to 3,650 as of Sunday. Of the number, 1,916 were males and 1,734 females.
Data from the Mombasa county health department shows that 4,285 people have been registered for vaccination.
The Joho-led administration had targeted to vaccinate 4,500 health workers who include nurses, doctors, clinical officers, community health volunteers and mortuary attendants.
By last week Monday, only 800 health workers had gone for the jab. But after Joho and President Uhuru Kenyatta got vaccinated, the number went up twofold from 800 to 1,604.
At the same time, the total number of police officers who have shown up for vaccination has gone up eleven folds from a paltry five to 56.
Some 504 teachers from the region have also been vaccinated.
Another batch of 1,486 people, who are not frontline workers, have been vaccinated in Mombasa.
On March 9, Mombasa received 9,000 doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. An additional 3,000 doses were sent to soldiers at the Kenya Naval Base in Mtongwe.
Mombasa Health executive Hazel Koitaba said they have established seven centres that will offer Covid-19 vaccination.
She said the vaccine will be offered at Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital, Port Reitz Hospital, Kaderbhouy Dispensary, Jocham Hospital, Aga Khan Hospital, Pandya and Mombasa Hospital.
“The vaccination will for now be given to health workers, teachers, uniformed officers and those aged over 58, every weekday from 8am to 3pm. Health workers will be vaccinated in their respective hospitals,” Koitaba said.
For the past one year, Mombasa has recorded over 9,568 positive cases of Covid-19.
Cumulatively, the county has tested over 128,306 samples.
Sixty-nine per cent are males (6,518) and 31 per cent are females at 2,989.
Mvita constituency continues to bear the burden of infections. Forty per cent of all infections in Mombasa come from that area. It has reported over 3,810 positive cases of Covid-19.
Jomvu constituency has 1,556 cases, Kisauni (1,332), Nyali (1,181), Likoni (901) and Changamwe has reported the least number with only 696 cases in the past one year.
A total of 195 people have died of Covid-19 in Mombasa.
Edited by A.N