Men are still hesitant to go for Covid-19 vaccination even after statistics showed that they were most affected by infections during the pandemic.
In Nakuru, vaccine uptake was higher in females at 51.52 per cent while male numbers stood at 48.44 per cent.
A clinician at the Rift Valley Provincial General Hospital, Samuel Muturi, who is also a member of the Infectious Disease Control and Critical Care for Covid-19 Response team said intersex and transgender in the county accounted for 0.04 per cent of the vaccinated population.
Speaking during a Media for Environment, Science, Health and Agriculture (Mesha) Café on Pandemic Preparedness, Muturi said only 495,588 adults were vaccinated in Nakuru, translating to 38.92 per cent against the county target of 1,273,265 persons.
The clinician said the statistics painted a bad picture yet the country was not yet out of danger in regards to Covid-19 because new cases were still being reported.
He observed that despite the Kenyan population being majorly youth, total fully vaccinated persons below 18 years in Nakuru was 42,947.
Currently, the Ministry of Health has started a vaccination programme in primary schools targeting children aged 12 years and above.
Muturi said there were 198 vaccination centres in the populous county that was ranked number four in Covid-19 infection rates at the height of the pandemic after Nairobi, Mombasa and Kiambu.
“Resources mobilisation for the training of vaccination from the government and faith-based organisations is still ongoing and the vaccines on offer are Astrazenica, Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson,” he said.
He revealed that the uptake of the second dose by those who had taken the first jab was at 58 per cent by March this year.
During the science media café, the media was asked to inform the public about herd immunity and its important relationship with mass vaccination in safely achieving a population immunity.
Doctor Frank Angira, Research Officer and Consortium Member at Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) in Kisumu and East Africa Consortium for Clinical Research (EACCR) said the media should continue educating the public on Covid-19 infection and reinfection which is still going on to date.
He said people needed to know that they can still get infected even after vaccination and the need for continued observance of preventive measures.
“Tell more stories on people’s positive outcomes after severe Covid-19 infection and collaborate with scientists or researchers to translate research findings for better and effective communication,” he said.
Angira said journalists should compile local, regional and international individual or collaborative stories examining, agitating and advocating for pandemic preparedness.