KISUMU, Kenya Nov 30 – Kenya is set to receive an additional 6 million COVID -19 vaccines from the US government in the coming weeks.
Eric Kneedler, the interim US Ambassador to Kenya said so far 4 million doses of the vaccine have been donated.
“The US has donated 4 million doses of vaccines, we anticipate another roughly 6 million to come in a couple of weeks or months,” he said during a round table meeting with journalists.
He said the donation would help ensure there was no shortage of vaccines in the country.
Kenya is racing against time to vaccinate at least 10 million people by end of December and has so far inoculated 6 million people.
“Nobody should be left behind during the vaccination period for the virus has ravaged the economies of countries across the globe. We all have a collective responsibility to make sure that our friends, families, co-workers and the entire community at large is getting vaccinated,” he added.
Kneedler also addressed several issues such as the upcoming general election and called for a fair and violence-free elections
“We are in partnership with other development partners to assist the country through civic education for a peaceful transition. We are happy to do that, to work with other partners to roll out programs aimed at ensuring a peaceful election,” he said.
He added that the US was working towards ensuring the election remained transparent and called on eligible voters to turn out and select the leaders they deem fit to run the country.
“In Kenya the younger voters are still reluctant to come out, but it is a dynamic issue even in the US and so we must sustain civic education around voter awareness,” he said.
The donation comes at the at the backdrop of Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe’s announcement that individuals not vaccinated against COVID-19 by December 21 would not have access to parks, hotels, restaurants, bars and public gatherings.
Additionally, individuals will not have access to in-person government services which include Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), education, immigration, hospital and prison visitations, National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), Kenya Ports Authority among others.
As of November 28, a total of 6,959,988 vaccines have been administered in the country with the government looking to meet its target of 10 million vaccinated by end of 2021.
Of the total number, 4,295,764 were partially vaccinated while the number of those fully vaccinated stood at 2,664,224. The uptake of the second dose among those who received their first dose was reported at 57.0 per cent. The proportion of adults fully vaccinated was reported at 9.8 per cent.
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