Twenty-four people have tested positive for the new Omicron variant bringing the total number of cases to 27.
The 27 cases were identified from a sample of 34 that was tested between November 23 and December 7, with the government revealing that there are nine variants circulating in Kenya.
“The 27 sequences which contributed to the 77 per cent of the samples were confirmed to belong to the newly identified Omicron variant of concern,” the Cabinet Secretary for Health Mutahi Kagwe said yesterday in a statement.
The other 23 per cent is thus shared by the remaining eight variants. While only four variants have been identified by names in the country, namely Alpha, Beta, Delta and Omicron, the ministry is yet to name the remaining five.
From the 27 cases, two individuals with the Omicron variant had recently travelled from South Africa and Ghana and the rest had no recent international travel history.
On Wednesday, Kenya confirmed three cases of the Omicron variant, joining nearly 80 other countries that have recorded cases of the new strain.
Travel history
“The increase in cases infected with the variant and have no recent travel history suggests ongoing community transmission of this variant. I want to encourage Kenyans who are yet to be vaccinated to get the jab and everyone including those already vaccinated to adhere to hand washing, social distancing and other containment guidelines,” said Kagwe in the statement yesterday evening.
This, he said, will help the country avert an uncontrolled spread of the virus.
Yesterday, the country recorded a positivity rate of 23 per cent after 2, 169 people tested positive of the virus from a sample size of 9,428.
Dr Ahmed Kalebi, a consultant pathologist, said that the Omicron variant was already in the country when the cases started rising and with it now circulating in the community, cases are going to rise in both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, but those with their shots are going to be protected against severe illness.
“Vaccinated people are going to test positive but they will not be severely attacked so we have to get comfortable by them getting positive but we should focus on unvaccinated people who will be severely attacked,” he said.
“The purpose of vaccines is not to prevent a positive test or a respiratory virus like Omicron, it’s to keep you out of the hospital, and that’s exactly what they’re doing.”
Administering booster doses
For the unvaccinated, though, he said the next few months could be dire as Omicron spreads.
Experts have asked the government to start administering booster doses of the Covid-19 vaccine for those eligible to take them, as infections rise.
Studies have shown that after getting vaccinated, protection against the virus and the ability to prevent infection with variants may decrease over time.
“Scientific evidence has shown that within six months of getting vaccinated, the protective level of the vaccines wane, and those who got their jabs earlier are very much exposed hence the urgent need for a booster,” Dr Kalebi said.
Asked why other viruses, including polio or yellow fever do not require a booster shot, Dr Kalebi said that the viruses hardly undergo a mutation that changes their structure to render the vaccine ineffective.
“With flu and Covid-19, they change so frequently that vaccines against them have to keep being updated to match the changes,” he said
Dr Catherine Kyobutungi, executive director of the African Population Health Research Centre, said that the ministry should consider offering booster vaccines. So far, Kenya has received 23 million vaccines and administered 8.8 million.
“Offering boosters is better than letting the vaccines expire. There is a high likelihood that the vaccines will expire,” she said. BY DAILY NATION