The Ministry of Health aims to convince at least 800,000 high school leavers to take Covid-19 vaccines.
The uptake has sunk to a daily low of about 6,000 doses, from 200,000 in March.
Young people are the most hesitant, with many believing the pandemic is over, the ministry says.
On Thursday, the ministry launched the accelerated vaccination campaign in Kibra with a target of vaccinating 50 per cent of teenagers.
As of June 1, 18.2 million vaccines had been administered across the country.
Of these, only 1.4 million doses had been administered to teenagers aged 15 to 17 and 34,589 to those between 12 to 15.
The six-week campaign is jointly conducted by the ministry and the Nairobi Metropolitan Services with support of World Health Organization, Unicef and USAid.
Health PS Susan Mochache said parents and guardians should encourage teenagers to get vaccinated to protect the more vulnerable older people they interact with.
“We need to reach an additional 1.5 million adults and vaccinate 300,000 teenagers in Nairobi. 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,” she said.
The current vaccination drive targets to reach 100 per cent adult population or 27,246,033 adults, with two doses.
The ministry begun the Covid-19 vaccination in March last year, to boost other interventions.
The interventions include proper frequent hand washing, social distancing and use of sanitisers and masks to curb the spread of the virus.
However, vaccination remains the most effective intervention in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic.
“There are enough vaccines for everyone. We have ordered and received vaccines and distributed them throughout the country and we continue to do so. We no longer have vaccine shortage,” the PS said.
To scale up the vaccination drive, the ministry has trained health promotion teams and is engaging religious leaders, schools management, the transport sector and women and youth groups.
Covid-19 cases are currently rising with data from the ministry showing 100 people tested positive on Thursday, while the positivity rate stood at 5.7 per cent.
On Monday, Mochache said the rise in cases is a concern to the ministry. She however, said the country is prepared for any eventuality.
“With just 30 per cent of the population vaccinated, we are still at risk of suffering another burden of Covid-19. Restrictions will have to be imposed, where people are sick and hospitalised,” she said.
The Health ministry said Covid spreads faster in a cold environment.
"We are now in the cold season and the rains are here. I urge Kenyans to go back to upholding the basic protocols at an individual level. Wear your mask and wash your hands,” Mochache said.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
