•The county recorded 82 new cases on Monday, 74 on Tuesday, 92 on Wednesday and 92 cases on Thursday.
•Nairobi comes second in the ranking of vaccination coverage after Nyeri which has fully vaccinated 52.9 per cent.
Image: MAGDALINE SAYA
Nairobi poses a threat of another Covid-19 pandemic wave owing to its high population density, the Ministry of Health has warned.
The ministry raised the alarm amid an upsurge in cases of the virus in the country in the past week.
Data from the ministry shows that Nairobi has consecutively reported more than 65 new daily cases over the past five days.
The county recorded 82 new cases on Monday, 74 on Tuesday, 92 on Wednesday and 92 cases on Thursday.
“We have recently witnessed an increase in reported cases of Covid-19 and the high population density in Nairobi poses the risk of propagation of another pandemic wave,” Health Principal Secretary Susan Mochache said on Thursday.
The ministry in partnership with the Nairobi Metropolitan Services, the World Health Organization, USAID and Unicef has now launched an accelerated vaccination campaign that targets at least 70 per cent of the city population.
Currently, 48.9 per cent (1,492,877) of the population in Nairobi is fully vaccinated against a target of 3,052,494 persons.
Nairobi comes second in the ranking of vaccination coverage after Nyeri which has fully vaccinated 52.9 per cent.
Nairobi, however, has administered the highest booster shots with the figure standing at 116,873 as at Thursday.
Kenya had fully vaccinated 31 per cent of its entire adult population by close of the day Thursday.
“Despite these gains, there remains a large population that is unvaccinated. We need to reach an additional 1.5 million adults and to vaccinate 300,000 teenagers in Nairobi,”Mochache said.
In less than a month, the country has witnessed a rise in the positivity rate from an average of 0.6 per cent per day to 3.6 per cent on Thursday, with a weekly average of 3.3 per cent.
The government through the ministry has already sensitised the county technical teams on vaccine management and health workers are well prepared to vaccinate all the eligible Kenyans.
Image: MAGDALINE SAYA
Similarly, the ministry has trained health promotion and community health teams and engaged religious leaders, school management boards, transport sector and women and youth groups.
Community mobilisation and dialogues is ongoing in all counties to improve the uptake that has since stagnated since the containment measures were lifted in February.
“Let no Kenyan suffer severe disease including hospitalisation when vaccines are now available in our health facilities. Covid-19 vaccination remains the most effective intervention in the fight against this pandemic,” she said.
The ministry has called for masking amid rising cases of Covid-19 in the country, especially while in closed or confined spaces such as PSVs, aircrafts, meetings, supermarkets, hotels, markets and offices; both government and private.
Mochache noted the rising cases is a concern to the ministry but said the country is prepared in case of any eventuality.
Health experts have, however, allayed fears that the country may be headed to another Covid-19 wave despite a rise in cases and positivity rate in the recent days.
Dr Bernard Muia, global health expert said that in mid-July, the country is likely to have more positive cases because this will be the peak of the cold season.
“The issue of another wave of Covid-19 was predicted between April and May but there is no cause for alarm. I anticipate that in June and July, there will be increased cases, but going forward, it is important for people to observe the healthcare protocol and vaccination,” Muia said.
Muia said the cases that are coming up are mild, and the rate of hospitalisation is flat and the death rate is going down.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)