• The Health Ministry set December 21 as the deadline during which all people either leaving the country or entering will be required to be fully vaccinated.
• The government is racing against time to meet the 10 million vaccinations target before end of December.
Image: MAGDALINE SAYA
The government will transfer responsibility to airlines for ferrying unvaccinated travellers.
This is after the Health ministry warned that airlines will take responsibility for any passenger who arrives into the country without being fully vaccinated once the December 21 deadline lapses.
The Health ministry set December 21 as the final day during which all people either leaving the country or entering will be required to be fully vaccinated.
Similarly, all inbound travellers into the country will be required to be in possession of a negative Covid-19 PCR taken 96 hours before arrival into the country.
Health CS Mutahi Kagwe has said the airlines are also well informed on the same.
Currently, all passengers aged above 18 arriving into the country from countries affected by the new omicron variant must show physical proof of vaccination.
“Airlines have been informed that if anybody gets into the aircraft and comes into the country not having been vaccinated they become the problem of the airline, not the problem of Kenya,” Kagwe said.
“Consequently we would expect that people boarding will indeed be vaccinated.
"We will also reciprocate by saying that Kenyans travelling overseas also need to be vaccinated and so our airlines, Kenya airways and our system will ensure that that is the case,” he added.
Kenya has been on high alert since the new variant was isolated by experts in South Africa last month with the ministry having stepped up surveillance, especially at points of entry.
Despite travel bans, the variant which is said to be highly transmissible has since been reported in at least 50 countries according to data from the World Health Organization.
Even though data about the omicron variant remains scanty, reports indicate that the rate of hospitalisation was higher in the younger population, with those aged below 29 being worst hit.
“Let me make an appeal to the world that even as we face these challenges let us remember that governments have now developed structure and systems that can keep people safe.
“What we are trying to keep away is not people, let us keep the virus away, not keep people away. We know how to deal with the virus now and we can keep the economy going provided we get our people vaccinated,” the CS said.
Experts have warned that there is an increased risk of people who have recovered from the beta or delta variants to get re-infected with omicron.
A study shows a threefold increase in the risk of re-infection with omicron over other variants.
The government is racing against time to meet the 10 million vaccinations target before end of December.
To date, more than 20 million vaccines have been received in the country with 7.7 million having been administered. The proportion of the adult population fully vaccinated stands at 10.6 per cent.
Nairobi is leading in the proportion of the population fully vaccinated at 28.3 per cent, followed by Nyeri at 22.7 per cent, Kiambu 17 per cent, Laikipia 15.8 per cent, Taita Taveta 13.5 per cent and Murang’a 13.3 per cent.
Others are Uasin Gishu at 12.7 per cent, Nyandarua at 12.2 per cent, Kirinyaga at 12 per cent, Kisumu at 11.7 per cent Nakuru at 11.5 per cent, Kajiado at 11.3 per cent and Mombasa at 11.2 per cent.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)