Low uptake: MoH says no blood clots as 3 million jabbed

No cases of blood clotting have been reported since Kenya started administering vaccines against Covid-19, Health Chief Administrative Secretary Rashid Aman has said.

Rashid told MPs on Tuesday the five vaccines being used are safe and have met the highest international health standards.

Yet fewer than two per cent of the population has been vaccinated because of vaccine hesitancy, he said.

Rashid appeared before the National Assembly's Health Committee.

The CAS said the Pharmacy and Poisons Board is monitoring adverse effects following immunisation and so far no clotting has been reported.

“We have not seen any case of blood clotting in the country,” Rashid told MPs.

Blood clotting is an extremely rare but serious side effect of vaccination against Covid-19.

Rashid said, however, 633 Kenyans who have taken the jab have reported adverse effects as a result of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Out of the 633 cases, 54 or 8.5 percent of those vaccinated reported serious reactions, while 579 persons (91.5 percent) reported mild effects.

Those with mild reactions, the CAS said, recovered with or without any interventions.

“[A total of] 633 out of the total number of vaccinated individuals have reported a total of 1,100 Adverse Effects Following Immunization (AEFI),” Rashid said.

"The cases were reported to the ministry by health care workers spread across the 47 counties."

Of the 633, the majority, 225 persons, complained of high fever, headache (169), injection site pain (133), malaise (95), fatigue (92), mylagia (80) and dizziness (48).

Some 36 persons complained of chills, nausea (25), generalised itching rash or urticaria (24) and diarrhoea (19).

Rashid told the committee chaired by Murang'a Woman Representative Sabina Chege that the government has so far received 6,283,620 of vaccines since the first case of coronavirus was reported on March 13, 2020.

According to the latest data from the Ministry of Health, the government has administered 3,031,728 vaccines.

This means that almost half the doses received in the country have not been administered despite government urging.

To increase uptake of the vaccine, head of public service Joseph Kinyua last month issued a memo warning all unvaccinated civil servants to get the jab or be treated as disciplinary cases.

Kinyua directed principal secretaries and other accounting officers to ensure full implementation of the decision.

He deplored the low uptake of vaccines among public servants especially in the security sector, among teachers and the core civil service. This despite access to the vaccines being made available to the groups.

“In a recent NSAC (National Security Advisory Committee) meeting, it was reported there was a low uptake of Covid-19 vaccines among public servants, especially the security sector, teachers and the core civil service,” Kinyua said in the August memo.

The CAS further told MPs that 2,504,869 Kenyans have obtained the first dose, while only 859,453 have received the two jabs.

He explained the wide gap between the first and second dose is due to the period recommended between the two jabs.

The ministry has also administered 23,697 vaccines to both prison staff and inmates in correctional facilities across the country.

“Out of these, 625 inmates in our Prisons and Remands have been vaccinated so far,” Rashid told MPs.

The CAS was appearing before the committee to respond to members’ questions, statements, petitions and other concerns.

MPs questioned the low uptake of the life-saving vaccine at a time the world is relying on vaccination to get out of the pandemic that has shattered lives and economies.

Cherengany MP Joshua Kutuny, who is also the committee’s vice chairman, urged Kenyans to get the vaccine, saying jab hesitancy was a matter of great concern.

“It is up to Kenyans to wake up and take the doses,” Kutuny said.

The country is experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases while the uptake remains slow. Fewer than two per cent of the population has been vaccinated.

With the low figures of those fully vaccinated, Kenya ranks second in the region on the jab uptake after Rwanda which has 1,368,758 of its nationals having had both injections.

On Tuesday, Rashid confirmed the country is now administering five types of approved Covid-19 vaccines.

They are AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer, Chinese vaccine Sinopharm and the single-jab Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

“Through the African Vaccines Acquisition Trust (AVAT) of the African Union, Kenya has placed orders for 13.3 million doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccine,” he said. the

So far, the country has received 141,600 doses of the single-jab Johnson and Johnson vaccine and which is being administered in the country.

The committee also heard that the government has spent Sh219.3 million and Sh178.3 million on Covid admissions for police and prison officers under the government programme to cushion civil servants.

“To cushion the civil servants, youth service and National Police Service ... the government allocated funds for enhanced work injury benefits, group personal accident, group life and last expenses, amounting to Sh6.8 billion. Sh2.2 billion has been allocated for the civil servants, National Youth Service and National Police Service/ Kenya Prisons Service," he said.

The scheme is run through the national health insurer, NHIF.

The 595 beneficiaries were admitted and discharged between July 2020 and June 2021 with an average cost per admission of Sh603,130 and an average admission stay of nine days.

The CAS also dismissed claims that a number of developed countries are categorising vaccinated Kenyans as ‘unvaccinated’.

Responding to a question by Kutuny, Rashid denied the claims saying the matter was blown out of proportion.

He explained that the ministry has not encountered any case of a Kenyan denied entry to those countries.

“After issuing certificates to Kenyans travelling to those countries, we have never had any problem of being denied entry.”

(Edited by V. Graham)