Vaccinate your staff or lose licenses, bar owners in Bondo told

Bars and restaurants operating in Bondo subcounty have six days to have all their staff get the Covid-19 jab.

Those who fail to comply with the government directive risk having their licenses revoked.

Bondo deputy county commissioner Richard Karani on Friday said traders and anyone working in the hospitality industry in the area must take the jab as a mandatory requirement within the period.

“This is an order. It is no longer voluntary. All business people and their employees within this subcounty must get the jab. We want to kick out Covid-19 within this area," he said.

He issued the directive during the launch of a renewed vaccination campaigns in Siaya presided over by Bondo MP Gedion Ochanda and county Health Executive Dismas Wakla at Jaramogi park in Bondo town.

Siaya county kicked off the mass vaccination campaigns and targets to reach 12,400 people in six days ahead of Mashujaa day.

The exercise is being spearheaded jointly by the department of health and the national government administration officers in collaboration with Centre for International Health, which is facilitating the drive.

The county has only vaccinated 41,000 people against Covid-19 according to Wakla. Out of the number, only 13,000 have received the complete dose.

“The low uptake in Siaya was due to vaccine shortage. Now we have enough vaccines and we target to have 100,000 people vaccinated by the end of this year,” he said.

The county health executive said the county government has been conducting outreaches to push up the number of the people being vaccinated.

“The outreach programme has been held in Usigu and Sega but we want to expand it. We mobilise people and take the vaccine there."

Wakla noted that the outreaches will now target political meetings, funerals and churches. “We have a robust team of community health volunteers in Siaya."

The volunteer health workers have data on those who have received the jab and those who are yet to because we have at least one CHV attached to every home or village in the county. We want to use this valuable structure to ensure the target is achieved,” Wakla said.

He also announced that CHVs will be used to mobilise people to register as voters in the county.

Milka Akala who is the vaccination coordinator for Centre for International Health in Siaya county said her organisation has trained many healthcare workers for the Covid-19 vaccine roll out.

The organisation also supports the outreaches in Busia, Kisumu and other counties in Western Kenya.

“We are supporting this initiative in Siaya county and expect to cover 12,400 people before Mashujaa Day celebrations. Our slogan for this campaign is Kua Shujaa, Pata Chanjo,tufungue nchi," she said.

 “We all realise that Covid-19 has taken a toll on our every sphere of life. Businesses have be greatly affected and we all want to resume our normal life.” 

While urging Siaya residents to take the jab, Akala assured that the vaccines are safe and advised the residents to accept any type of vaccine available without insisting on a particular one.“ Take the vaccine available at the site."

All the vaccines being administered in the country has been tested and found to be safe, don’t select or wait for a specific vaccine,” she said.

She appealed to those who have received the first dose to ensure they receive the second one for full protection against Covid-19.

The Ministry of Health is currently running a Covid-19 vaccination rapid result initiative in Kenya which started on Friday and will go on for six days countrywide.

The RRI targets to upscale uptake of the vaccine in Kenya by Mashujaa Day on Wednesday as part of the strategy for achieving the overall target of 10 million people which the country wants to be vaccinated by end of this year.

Each county has been given a target by Ministry of Health.

-Edited by SKanyara