• People are trying to go to counties with vaccines to get the second dose
• The Health Ministry has now urged Kenyans to be patient as it tries to explore other avenues to get doses for the second dose
Image: ANDREW KASUKU
Some vaccinated people are travelling to other counties to hunt for a second Covid-19 jab.
Those vaccinated were due to receive a second dose after eight weeks, but that will no longer be possible as the second shipment is uncertain.
The Health Ministry has urged Kenyans to be patient as it tries to explore other avenues to get doses.
It is best that more people are reached with at least one dose of the vaccine, the government said.
By Wednesday, 925,509 people had been inoculated with the first dose. Some 282,369 are people aged above 58 years, 161,702 are healthcare workers, 145,099 are teachers, 78,081 are security officers while 256,365 are other members of the public.
“It is important that more people get the one dose as you are assured of up to 70 per cent protection and it will make you to get less severe disease,” vaccines deployment task force chair Dr Willis Akhwale said.
“We encourage county governments to look for those in the priority list to get one dose before the doses are depleted,” he said.
The government plans to redeploy vaccines from counties that have had low immunisation numbers.
Dr Akhwale blamed difficulty to access facilities over distance and failure by some counties to capture data through the Chanjo.Ke for the low numbers.
The online data capturing system aims to give up to date information of vaccine uptake.
It will also be used to facilitate issuance of Covid-19 vaccination certificates upon receipt of the second dose.
“Where the targeted population has been covered in certain counties and vaccines still remain in stock we shall need to re-distribute them to other counties including those nearby to target eligible population,” Health CAS Dr Rashid Aman said.
Nairobi leads vaccination numbers by 277,321 followed by Nakuru with 63,191, Kiambu 45,599, Uasin Gishu with 42,415 and Nyeri with 34,759 persons vaccinated.
Counties with the least vaccination rate are Marsabit with 668, Lamu with 728, Tana River with 842, Isiolo with 1,636 and Wajir with 2,101 people vaccinated.
Kenyans who were expecting to get their second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine in early May will now be required to wait for four more weeks to do so.
The Health Ministry issued the new directives in the wake of looming shortage of vaccines as a result of the global supply chain challenges.
Kenya had planned to vaccinate at least 1.25 million by June, a dream that now hangs in the balance.