The Homa Bay administration has suspended Covid-19 vaccination until the county can secure more AstraZeneca vaccine doses.
By Monday, a total of 18,997 residents had received the first dose of the vaccine. Out of those, 9,344 are fully vaccinated.
Some 9,653 people will require a second dose, though timelines around when they'll need it vary because of the eight-week period.
Homa Bay Health executive Richard Muga said the shortage began four days ago.
“We undertook the vaccination until Monday when the vaccine was depleted from our stock. My department is making arrangements to get more from the Ministry of Health in Nairobi,” Muga said.
Residents were urged to be patient as the department is ordering more vaccines from the Ministry of Health headquarters in Nairobi.
“Let residents be calm as we have requested for a vaccine from the government,” he added.
The county has a cumulative 1,477 confirmed Covid-19 cases. Some 44 are active. One person has been admitted to Homa Bay County Teaching and Referral Hospital with 41 patients being under home-based care.
Two patients are inmates at Homa Bay GK prisons.
The county has had 77 deaths from the virus. This week, the Kenyan government received 880,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine.
Meanwhile, Homa Bay county commissioner Moses Lilan has asked residents to continue complying with Covid-19 protocols to tame the spread of the virus.
“Covid-19 has continued to mutate hence abiding by protocols would keep the disease at bay,” Lilan said.
