8,000 teens take Covid vaccine in three weeks

More than 8,000 teenagers have received the Pfizer jab in the last three weeks, according to the Ministry of Health.
Acting Director General of Health Dr Patrick Amoth said a total of 8,519 teenagers aged between 15 and 18 years have been vaccinated since the government started vaccinating Kenyans in that age bracket on November 21.
The teenagers are being administered with the Pfizer vaccine as the government intensifies efforts to vaccinate 10 million Kenyans by Christmas Day.
“Now that we have sufficient doses to achieve our target, I urge all eligible Kenyans to get vaccinated,” Dr. Amoth said, reiterating Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe’s Jamhuri Day appeal to Kenyans.
 He pointed out that immediately the announcement to vaccinate teenagers was made, the ministry engaged all the 47 counties to assist in sensitising and mobilising the teenagers to take the jab.
 An October 2021 study at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) found children to be potential spreaders of Covid-19 and emerging variants.
Public events
Dr Amoth told People Daily that any opportunity to have as many Kenyans vaccinated, is welcome. He said this referring to the enhanced immunisation efforts that has seen the government set up vaccination tents closer to public events.
 “The government is trying to bring these services as close to the people as possible. This new strategy is supplementing the ongoing vaccination efforts in the health facilities, which sometimes become a challenge for those who have various difficulties accessing them,” he pointed out.
 At the Kasarani Stadium during the Azimio La Umoja Convention held on Friday, a large vaccination centre was set up to administer the jab to the thousands of ODM leader Raila Odinga’s supporters who thronged the venue where he officially announced his intention to run for the presidency next year.
 “The turn out so far has been good. We pray that it continues this way now that we have enough vaccines,” he noted, adding that the government is approaching the whole campaign through a multi-pronged strategy.
Obey protocols
 The number of Covid-19 vaccines received in the country so far stands at around 23 million.  “As of December 11th, 2021, a total of 8,169,739 vaccines had so far been administered across the country. Of these, 4,918,051 were partially vaccinated while those fully vaccinated were 3, 251, 688,” Kagwe said yesterday.
 The uptake of the second dose among those who received their first dose was at 57.3 per cent. The proportion of adults fully vaccinated was 11.9 per cent. The Government is working towards vaccinating a targeted population of 27,246,033.
 In a statement released on Jamhuri Day, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said despite the vaccination against Covid-19 being voluntary, the government has a duty to protect the health of all by implementing the recently announced measures regarding access to in-person government services.
 Kagwe, therefore, urged institutions that have not started to implement the regulations to do so immediately, lauding those that have complied. “I applaud businesses that have notified the public that they will put in place compliance measures to the new regulations,” he said.
 He pointed out that scientific evidence shows that fully vaccinated individuals are protected from severe Covid-19 disease and, therefore, death from it.
 “And this is even more critical with the emergence of the Omicron variant. Experts have warned that it is more infectious than previous forms of the virus,” he noted, stating that the Government has a duty to protect the rights of the vaccinated from exposure to infection by those who may opt not to get the jab.
 “To all our brothers and sisters who are yet to get vaccinated, I appeal to you to go out and get the vaccine,” he said, reflecting that voluntary vaccination is not only an act of self-protection but of care for loved ones and even an act of patriotism.
 Kagwe noted that getting vaccinated in large numbers will help ensure that the economy will remain open and that life will get back to normal sooner.