State must get its act on vaccination right

 

Kenyans are warming up to the Covid-19 vaccination programme after an initial slow start.

The act by President Uhuru Kenyatta and other public officials to openly take the vaccine was a positive move as it allayed fears and dispelled initial concerns on the effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine, so far the most readily available in the country.

With the acceptance, challenges have now emerged. 

Kenya received 1.12 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine out of which  806,000 were distributed countrywide.

However so far, less than 200,000 people have received the jab countrywide with reports of vaccine shortage in almost all the counties.

Is it a matter of poor distribution, hoarding or selective vaccination?

The initial plan was to have all essential service providers like health workers, teachers, security personnel and those whose work puts them at more risk of catching Covid-19 vaccinated. Subsequently, those aged 58 years and above were also accommodated.

But very few of those within this targeted group have received the jab and instead, those charged with the programme are sneaking in their relatives and friends.

The country has even gone ahead to offer free Covid-19 vaccination to all diplomats even though it has not completed inoculating its own health workers, other front-line staff or elderly, a move that has drawn criticism from local doctors.

Void of a proper vaccine programme, only Kenyans who have connections or can buy the privately administered doses will be vaccinated, beating the whole point of protecting the elderly and front-line workers.

The state must account for every dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Quote of the Day: "Imagination rules the world."

Napoleon Bonaparte

The French emporer abdicated for the first time in favour of his son on April 4, 1814  BY THE STAR