NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 1 – Kenya on Wednesday received an additional 1.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to support an ongoing accelerated COVID-19 vaccination campaign seeking to have 10 million people vaccinated by December 25.
The consignment totaling 1,462,400 vaccines comprised donations from Denmark, Belgium and Netherlands who offered 266,400, 445,300 and 750,700 doses respectively.
The latest consignment brought the total number of AstraZeneca doses received in the country to 14,120,000.
Kenya had as of November 30 vaccinated 7.1 million people against COVID-19 with the proportion of fully vaccinated adults standing at 9.9 per cent. The uptake of the second dose among recipients of first jab stood at 57 per cent. President Uhuru Kenyatta urged more Kenyans to turn up for the jab.
While delivering a State of the Nation Address to a joint sitting of Parliament on Tuesday, Kenyatta revealed that 50 per cent of COVID-19 vaccines in the country remain unused.
He noted that Kenyans needed to get the jab to cushion themselves against the virus, especially in the wake of the new Omicron variant with 32 documented mutations.
“The COVID-19 vaccines are in stock across our country and in all our counties and already with a daily average rate of over 100, 000 vaccinations, we have a much a smaller target to meet within the next 25 days. I therefore once again call on all Kenyans to rally under the call of 25 days to Christmas to secure their vaccinations,” he said.
The new Omicron Covid-19 variant has caused widespread panic across the world leading to border closures.
It was detected in South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong and its unknown nature prompted some countries like Britain, the US, Canada, Israel and the European Union to suspend travel from South African countries.
Kenyatta further called on Kenyans to be vigilant saying health officials had already intensified screening at the border points, particularly on travelers from countries where the new Omicron strain has been detected.
“This new variant profile as for now remains unknown, it is therefore better to err on the side of caution by receiving our vaccinations, we will have played our part in securing not only our own lives but also in protecting the lives of those round us,” he said.
