Covid vaccination picks up with 100,000 jabs per day
The vaccination drive is gathering pace as the Ministry of Health administers close to 100,000 jabs daily basis, data shows.
The change is also being witnessed over the weekends, with vaccinations growing from an average of 3,000 to about 150,000 doses a day.
“We are seeing a change in how people are turning up for the vaccination, a sign that by December, we may be close to vaccinating over 10 million people, which is our target,” said Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe.
Mr Kagwe said that the regions are performing differently, with Western and Nyanza performing dismally.
In a bid to drive up the vaccination numbers uniformly across the country, Mr Kagwe has pledged to give counties financial support to support outreaches.
“When others are lagging behind and others are doing well, then it is definitely dragging the whole process, we are going to finance the counties to drive the outreach process so that we meet our target,” Mr Kagwe said
He added that there are sufficient doses to vaccinate most of Kenya’s adult population and achieve the 10 million target by Christmas. It is for this reason that the Ministry of Health has opened up access to vaccines for all persons aged 18 years and above.
Kenya has received about nine million doses of various vaccines, which have since been distributed across the country. Of these, 5.5 million doses have been administered, 3.7 million Kenyans partially vaccinated and 1.7 million fully vaccinated.
Another six million doses are expected by the end of the year.
The uptake of the second dose e stands at 45 per cent, with 6.5 per cent of adults fully vaccinated.
This means that over two million Kenyans are yet to get their second dose– some are waiting for their stipulated time while others have just not gone back for the dose.
“You know, once you have made a step and gotten the first dose, it is advisable to have your second dose at the stipulated dates,” said Dr Willis Akhwale, the Covid-19 vaccine task force chairman.
Dr Akhwale appealed to Kenyans yet to get the second dose to show up for the jab without having the government go for them.
“Through the Chanjo system, we are able to get their details and call them to go for the vaccine. This is, however, a voluntary process...” he said.
He clarified that getting a second dose results in longer-lasting immunity.
“Again, once you have gotten the second dose, not only do you get protection for yourself against the disease, but there is also decreased risk of getting an asymptomatic infection and then transmitting it to others,” he expounded.
Nairobi County is in the lead with 19 per cent of the adult population fully vaccinated, followed by Nyeri County (17 per cent), Kiambu (11 per cent), Uasin Gishu and Nyandarua (8.9 per cent), Kisumu (7.9 per cent), Mombasa (7.8 per cent) and Murang’a (7.6 per cent). Mandera, Wajir and Marsabit are lagging, with less than 1 per cent of their adult populations fully vaccinated.
By age groups, the 30-39 age group has the highest number of vaccinations at 860,852, followed by the 40-49 years with 750,056 vaccinations, 18-29 years (668,816) and 50-59 years (570,175).
Kenya has recorded 253,737 Covid-19 cases so far and 5,296 deaths. Like most other African countries, it has struggled with acquiring Covid-19 vaccines because of unequal distribution that favours rich countries. BY DAILY NATION
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