Nyeri is the most protected county against Covid-19, Ministry of Health data shows.
The ministry said Nyeri and Nairobi have vaccinated more than half of their residents, a rare feat given that most counties have vaccinated less than three out of every ten people.
Nyeri, the home county of Health CS Mutahi Kagwe, leads nationally with 53.3 per cent followed by Nairobi, which has jabbed 51.7 per cent of people.
Kakamega and Kisumu follow with 42.8 per cent and 41.8 per cent respectively.
The rest of the counties fall below 40 per cent.
The bottom five counties are led by Marsabit, which has the lowest rate with only one out of every 10 residents being vaccinated.
The others are Mandera, Tana River, Wajir, and Isiolo, respectively.
The sluggish uptake nationally means Kenya is behind its target of vaccinating 70 per cent of adults by July.
“As of July 23, some 19,399,459 vaccines had been administered across the country, with 17,050,891 doses administered to the adult population of 18 years and above.” Kagwe said on Sunday.
He said the proportion of adults fully vaccinated is now 32.6 per cent.
“The government is working towards vaccinating a target population of 27,246,033,” the CS said.
Kenya started vaccinating its adult population against Covid-19 in March 2021 and its teenage population with Pfizer in November last year.
Kagwe said so far, 1,615,644 doses have been administered to teens between 15 to 17 years, and 75,224 doses to those between 12 and 15 years.
Kenya started the administration of third doses as booster shots at the beginning of 2022, following global reports of waning immunity from Covid-19 vaccinations.
The country had planned to administer 4.2 million booster shots by June 2022, but has only done 657,700 so far.
The country also planned to fully vaccinate 19 million adults (70 per cent of the adult population) by end of June 2022 and the entire adult population of 27 million people by the end of the year.
However, the country is doing better than most African countries, as the continent has an average vaccination rate of 22 per cent, according to the Africa CDC.
Acting director of the Africa CDC Dr Ahmed Ouma said two African countries have achieved a vaccination rate of 70 per cent, and six others have vaccinated between 40 and 70 per cent of their populations.
“Overall, less than 20 per cent of the people in Africa are fully vaccinated,” he said.
Ouma spoke during the first anniversary of their partnership with the Mastercard Foundation under the Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative.
According to the WHO Africa Office, Covid-19 doses rose by 74 per cent in June 2022 compared to the previous month after a sustained three-month decrease between March and May.
This is due to mass Covid-19 vaccination campaigns in 16 countries in June.
World Health Organization regional director for Africa Dr Matshidiso Moeti said the uptick in vaccination coverage shows that African countries remain committed to Covid -19 vaccination.
“This is encouraging because vaccination remains the most effective tool in our response to Covid-19 on the continent,” she said.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
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