Africa-Press – Kenya. The low uptake of Covid-19 vaccines in counties that are densely populated has continued to pose another headache to the Health Ministry.
This is after it emerged that counties like Kisii and Homa Bay have recorded lower uptake of the lifesaving vaccines with Kisii county for instance having fully vaccinated just 130,835 of the targeted 697,445 adult population.
Homa Bay on the other hand has been able to inoculate 98,403 of the targeted 608, 326 adult population.
Other counties that have vaccinated fewer people compared to their population include Bungoma with 214,260 people fully vaccinated from the targeted 843,732, Siaya with 123,767, Nyamira with 76,263 and Busia with 76,690 of the targeted 465,190.
“The government is doing everything to get as many people vaccinated as soon as possible. It is important to appreciate our concern about the unvaccinated,” Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said.
“Not only do unvaccinated people put their health at risk from the pandemic and evolving variants, but they also strain our health facilities and expose our economy to more risk,” he added.
Of greater concern is counties in the arid and semi-arid parts of the country, majority of them being in the northern region of the country where the uptake has also been relatively low.
For instance, Wajir county has so far fully inoculated 24,333, Tana River 11,684, Mandera 26,522, Garissa 37,728, Isiolo 13,998 and West Pokot with 30,735.
The ministry has maintained that the directives issued in November last year that require proof of vaccination before entry to public places did not make vaccination mandatory, but noted that proof of vaccination is not new and must be encouraged.
“Vaccination against various diseases was a requirement when we joined primary school as it has been for people working in the food industry and for travelers across the globe,” the CS noted.
“Now that we have enough vaccine doses, the ministry of health has revised its targets, and our focus now is ensuring that everyone is fully vaccinated.”
To date, more than 24.6 million doses of vaccines have been received in Kenya with 14.1 million having been administered across the country.
An additional four million doses are expected in the country before the end of the month as per projections by the ministry.
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