Kenya has resumed administering first doses of AstraZeneca vaccine across all vaccination posts.
This is in an effort to meet President Uhuru Kenyatta’s target of at least 10 million Kenyans vaccinated by Christmas and 26 million by end of next year.
The Health ministry towards the end of May halted the issuance of the first AZ dose after experiencing challenges in supply chain.
It restricted the available doses for second dose persons.
The ministry has reversed the decision after optimism in the improved supply chain. The country is expected to receive a good number of doses to boost the vaccination campaign as from next week.
As at Tuesday, a total of 1,692,793 vaccines had been administered across the country out of which first doses are 1,052,343 while second doses are 640,450.
The ministry estimates the uptake of the second dose among those who received their first dose to be at 60.9 per cent with the majority being males at 55 per cent.
The proportion of adults fully vaccinated in the country is now 2.35 per cent.
To attain herd immunity the country is supposed to vaccinate at least 60 per cent of the population.
In terms of uptake of the second dose among priority groups, 112,773 are healthcare workers, 92,342 teachers, 51,007 security officers, 199,107 aged above 58 years while 185,221 are members of the public.
Through bilateral donations, Kenya expects to receive 1.7 million doses of Pfizer from the US, 410,000 doses of AZ vaccines from the UK, 235,000 doses of AZ from Greece and another 55,000 doses of AZ from Latvia.
“Covax has informed us of an improvement in their acquisition of vaccines. They have allocated Kenya 407,040 doses of AZ and 271,440 doses of Pfizer,” Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said.
Kenya has also procured an additional 13 million doses of Johnson and Johnson through the AVAT-AU mechanism with delivery expected to start in August.
“In order to meet the targets, all vaccination posts under the national and county governments have been ordered to open during weekends,” Kagwe said.
“I have ordered a scale up of the vaccination campaign that must include radio and community awareness meetings" he added.
In order to quickly reverse the negative impact the pandemic has on our economy we need to achieve herd immunity. The best route to achieving this remains increased vaccination of majority of our people.
The ministry will work with county governments to ensure that all the 658 vaccination posts in the country are supplied with vaccines and more posts are enlisted to offer the services.
The government targets to have at least 3,000 vaccination posts by the end of the year.
The two levels of government will also collaborate in conducting outreaches aimed at increasing demand for vaccines among priority populations and hard to reach areas.
Those who wish to take the jab will be required to pre-register in advance through the Chanjo-KE system to enhance efficiency at vaccination posts, or through assisted registration at nearby facilities.
Similarly, all staff working under county commissioners and community health workers will be required to assist those who require assistance to pre-register.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)