- The accelerated vaccination campaign seeks to ensure that all eligible Kenyans above 12 years are protected against the disease.
Image: FILE
The Ministry of Health will be rolling out another phase of accelerated Covid-19 vaccination drive this month until December.
The ministry has noted that even though hospitalisation and deaths have reduced following introduction of vaccines against Covid-19, the risk persists particularly with global emergence of variants of concern.
The accelerated vaccination campaign seeks to ensure that all eligible Kenyans above 12 years are protected against the disease.
“The Ministry of Health reiterates its commitment to ensuring all adults and children above 12 years are fully vaccinated against Covid-19,” Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said.
The number of people presenting to take the jab has been relatively low after the decline of the sixth wave with the current daily average standing at about 6,000 daily vaccinations compared to more than 30,000 during the peak of the pandemic.
To date, 22.2 million vaccines have been administered across the country; 18,106,493 administered to the adult population of 18 years and above, and an additional 2.6 million to those between 12 to below 18 years.
Another 1,439,130 booster doses have also been issued with the proportion of adults fully vaccinated standing at 35.8 per cent.
The government is working towards vaccinating a targeted population of 27,246,033 people.
Only Nyeri and Nairobi have managed to fully vaccinate more than half of their targeted population at 53.8 per cent and 53.7 per cent respectively while others like Mandera, Tana River, Wajir and Marsabit have done a paltry 11 per cent.
Similarly, seven counties are yet to administer at least 1,000 booster doses 10 months since the exercise was rolled out.
They include Wajir with 161, Mandera with 312, Isiolo with 326, Tana River with 372, Garissa with 412, West Pokot with 531 and Marsabit with 594 booster doses administered so far.
“We have noted that with the decline in prevalence of the disease as evidenced through consistent low positivity rates, there has also been a significant decline in demand for these lifesaving commodities,” Vaccines deployment taskforce chairperson Willis Akhwale said.
According to Akhwale, the extent of internet penetration and critical IT supplies like smart phones, tablets and data bundles at remote health facilities has affected reporting rate and timeliness of Covid-19 vaccines.
-Edited by SKanyara