NAIROBI, Kenya, May 7 – Health Cabinet Secretary on Friday said the health ministry will recall vaccines in areas which have registered a low uptake for redeployment in areas with a higher demand.
Kagwe who spoke in Nyeri where he assessed Othaya Hospital’s newborn unit some vaccines were still laying unutilized in some counties since being dispatched in February.
He said only 911,515 people had received their first doses out of 1.2 million vaccines imported. Those vaccinated included 160, 468 health workers, 142,624 teachers, and 76,578 security officers.
The CS noted the country was still grappling with the challenge of inadequate vaccine supplies, due to the current situation in India, the source country for the AstraZeneca vaccine.
He however maintained that the ministry is vigilant to monitor other variants of the coronavirus to contain its spread.
Kenya reported five cases of the Indian variant of the COVID-19 on Wednesday sparking anxiety in Kisumu where the cases were reported.
Acting Director General of Health, Patrick Amoth, said the cases had been quarantined.
The confirmation of the Indian variant in Kenya comes at a time the country has consistently reported a decline in coronavirus cases as reflected by the slowing positivity rate.
The COVID-19 positivity rate fell to 6.3 per cent on Friday after 586 people out of 9,029 tested positive for the virus within 24 hours with no deaths occurred within the reporting period.
Kagwe noted that 15 deaths were also reported; five of them having occurred on diverse dates in a period dating back a month and ten picked from facility record audits.
He said there were 1,086 COVID-19 patients admitted in various health facilities countrywide while 6,381 patients were on home-based isolation and care.
Out of the 131 patients in the Intensive Care Unit, 83 were on supplemental oxygen, 28 on ventilatory support, and 20 on observation.
The new cases are spread across Nairobi (142), Kilifi(44), Mombasa(38), Kisii(33), Kericho(30) and Nyeri(28).
The country’s recovery toll rose to 110,653 after 173 more patients recovered from the disease including 130 who were under home-based care and 43 who were discharged from various health facilities countywide.
