Taita Taveta Governor Granton Samboja has become the first governor at the Coast region to take the coronavirus vaccination.
Samboja who had initially said that the vaccination priority shall be given to health workers, police and teachers, seems to have changed his mind days after ODM leader Raila Odinga tested positive for coronavirus.
He was vaccinated on Saturday at his Mwakishima home in Wundanyi.
Samboja hosted Raila for two days during his whirlwind five-day tour at the Coast
“Today I have received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine. When we received the consignment of vaccines, priority was given to health workers, the police and teachers,” the county boss posted on his Facebook account urging Kenyans to take the jab.
“I urge our people and the rest of Kenyans to embrace the vaccine. Taking the jab will help us strengthen immunity, protect our loved ones and the community from the virus,” he said.
Raila tested positive for the virus on Thursday evening at the Nairobi Hospital where he had been admitted complaining of fatigue.
The total number of confirmed cases in the country is now at 112,805 according to Health ministry statistics. The virus, now in its third wave, has so far claimed 1,908 lives.
During his charm offensive of the Coast region, the Opposition leader who was flanked by a battery of political leaders made a series of public rallies and closed-door meeting in Taita Taveta, Kilifi, Mombasa and Kwale counties.
He had gone to popularise BBI ahead of referendum after the six coastal assemblies unanimously passed the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
In most rallies, leaders and the public converged with total disregard of the Covid-19 containment measures.
Apart from Samboja, no other coastal leader who interacted with Raila has publicly taken the vaccine.
Idris Mohammed, an activist on Sunday asked all leaders who interacted with the former Prime Minister to go on quarantine as a way of combating possible spread.
“In the spirit of protecting Kenyans, all of them should isolate themselves just in case they contracted the virus from Raila. We are also asking them to publicly take the Covid-19 tests,” he said.
He blamed the police for being reluctant in enforcing some of the containment measures imposed by the Ministry of Health noting that leaders have been on the forefront in violating the guidelines.
“In almost all the BBI rallies, police were not bothered with the mammoth crowds of people who had no facemasks,” Idris added.
While launching the coronavirus vaccination campaign Moi County Referral Hospital last week, Samboja said the jab will greatly help in containing the pandemic.
“This is just a phase one of the vaccination. We appreciate the support we are receiving from the national government in the fight against coronavirus,” he said.
The county boss noted that the devolved unit had received 1,500 doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine in the first batch.
The County director of Health Services Elvis Mwandawiro was the first to be vaccinated. He said the doses were way below the targeted population, further noting that the government was waiting to receive more doses. He urged the government to fast-track the processing of dispatching more doses to counties to ensure more people get the jab.
“We have about 3,000 healthcare workers and support staff combined and the first batch might not reach everybody. We are however expecting to receive more,” he said.
-Edited by Sarah Kanyara