- According to data from the county health department, only 39 per cent of teachers in the county have gone for the first and second dose.
- According to the Teachers Service Commission, more than 200,000 or 73 per cent of teachers have yet to be fully vaccinated in Kenya.
Image: REUTERS
Concerns have been raised over the low number of teachers who have gone for the Covid-19 vaccine on the Coast as schools reopened on Monday for the 2021 first term.
In Mombasa county, for example, only 2,360 teachers out of about 6,000 have fully been vaccinated against Covid-19, while only 3,021 have received the first jab.
According to data from the county health department, only 39 per cent of teachers have gone for the second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Mombasa has about 98 public and 324 private primary schools. It has 34 public and about 20 private secondary schools.
Population in both primary and secondary schools in Mombasa is estimated to be 310,000 learners, according to 2020 data from the Ministry of Education.
Mombasa county education chief officer John Musuva said the uptake of Covid-19 vaccine among teachers is low.
“As a county government, we have sensitised our teachers and informed them where they can get the Covid vaccine, but to date, the uptake is still low,” Musuva said.
According to the Teachers Service Commission, more than 200,000 or 73 per cent of teachers have yet to be fully vaccinated in Kenya.
The country has in excess of 15 million learners in both primary and secondary schools.
Last October, two secondary schools were closed after 15 teachers in the institution tested positive for Covid-19.
Some 11 teachers from Tononoka Secondary School and four others from Mama Ngina girls’ High School tested positive for the virus.
A few weeks later, Tononoka principal Mohammed Khamis succumbed to Covid-19-related complications.
Despite the national and county governments putting in place measures to curb Covid-19 in schools, parents are still worried about the health of their children.
The country is currently experiencing the fourth wave of Covid-19, which the Kenya Medical Association is describing as lethal with positivity of 15.6 per cent.
In July, the positivity in Mombasa stood at 15 per cent and doctors are concerned that the number will rise.
Kenya Medical Association president Were Onyinyo said the steady rise of Covid-19 in the country is worrying.
“The increase of cases is putting immense pressure on our already constrained resources, where we have a severe shortage of ICU beds, medical oxygen, PPE and medical personnel,” he said.
He said education institutions should increase their surveillance and strictly adhere to the protocols issued by the Ministry of Health to protect learners and provide a safe learning environment.
“As we combat this fourth wave, we urge all Kenyans to strictly adhere to the Covid-19 protocols to reduce the strain on our healthcare facilities, which will only be done by reducing the number of infections,” he said.
On Sunday, Mombasa recorded 96 more cases, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 13,566. Three more people succumbed to Covid-19 complications, bringing the cumulative number of deaths to 297.
In July alone, some 50 health workers were diagnosed with Covid-19, which is the highest number to be recorded this year.
County public health director of communications Richard Chacha told the Star that the Covid-19 situation in Mombasa is worrying.
He said Covid-19 beds at Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital, the largest facility in the region, are currently full.
“We do not have space at the Coast General. All ICU beds are occupied,” Chacha said.
He encouraged Mombasa residents, especially teachers and all frontline workers, to go for the Covid-19 jab.
So far, some 21,659 people have been fully vaccinated in the county.
Healthcare workers are 3,416, security personnel 970, teachers 2,360, above 58 years cohort stands at 5,741 and other people are 9,172.
-Edited by SKanyara