•The perception survey was conducted by the Kenya Red Cross Society in collaboration with the Health Ministry in nine counties with low vaccine uptake
•The aim was to understand community perceptions as key to successful a vaccination drive.
Image: MAGDALINE SAYA
At least four in every 10 Kenyans now believe that the relaxing of Covid-19 containment measures by the Health Ministry is an indicator that the pandemic is over.
Survey results released during the ongoing first international health promotion conference in Nairobi show that 41 per cent of respondents indicated the directive issued on the use of face masks is an indication that there is no Covid-19.
The final report is yet to be officially released.
This has affected the uptake of vaccines in the country with data from the ministry showing a decline in the daily uptake rate from more than 150,000 before the relaxation of the measures to a mere less than 15,000 daily.
For instance, 11,174 vaccines were administered on Monday as per daily ministry reports.
The perception survey was conducted by the Kenya Red Cross Society in collaboration with the Health Ministry in nine counties with low vaccine uptake to understand community perceptions as key to successful a vaccination drive.
The nine counties include Lamu, Turkana, Kitui, Samburu, Isiolo, Wajir, Mandera, Garissa and Marsabit.
To date, Lamu county has fully vaccinated 16,718 people, Turkana 74,766, Kitui 102,637, Samburu 25,068, Isiolo 17,133, Wajir 36,784, Mandera 35,155, Garissa 50,641 while Marsabit has fully vaccinated 21,200 people.
In terms of booster doses, Lamu has been able to administer 58 jabs, Turkana 973, Kitui 2,377, Samburu 400, Isiolo 196, Wajir 118, Mandera 217, Garissa 192 and Marsabit 75.
The survey found that even though the knowledge on where to receive the vaccine is high in the community, the community noted that precautionary measures put in place by the government are important but difficult to keep.
The most preferred place for residents to receive the vaccines is the government health facilities as per the survey.
“The concern about getting Covid-19 and the worries in relation to Covid-19 has reduced among the community members hence affecting vaccine uptake,” Red Cross Secretary General Asha Mohammed said.
The findings further show that even though there is good knowledge by the community on how and where to report adverse events after receiving a vaccination, the community has not fully trusted the Covid-19 vaccine, its safety, and its importance.
“There are still information gaps on vaccines use by expectant and lactating mothers where 30.4 per cent of respondents needed more clarification to help them make an informed decision about whether to get vaccinated against Covid-19,” Mohammed said.
The report now calls for the creation of demand and employment of a mix of vaccine delivery mechanisms to target and reach key priority groups.
“Strengthening and promoting an integrated systems approach means that services are more people-centered and able to respond to health needs, which supports strong progress towards universal health coverage.”
Ministry data shows a total of 17.7 million vaccines have been administered across the country out of the 27 million doses that have been received in the country.
Another 1.2 million are doses administered to teens between 15 to 17 years while 287,908 are booster doses.
This comes amid fears that close to one million doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine are likely to expire in the next week due to low uptake.
The ministry last month announced that another 840,000 doses of AstraZeneca had expired and were to be destroyed.
“JJ is popular, the demand has always been high especially among young people so we expected that we can use all these doses but from what we are seeing now if people don’t show up in the next three weeks there is that danger,” vaccines deployment taskforce chairman Willis Akhwale said.
The ministry has however noted that the JJ doses acquired by the government had been utilized, with a few doses in the northern region of the country that are yet to be used having been stored at the required -20 degrees.