The government is mulling strategies to make Kenyans take the Covid-19 vaccines over fears of a possible spike of the disease.

The Ministry of Health says it is reviewing current policies to see how it can change Kenyans’attitude towards vaccination that developed after the government lifted all the protocols put in place to contain the spread of Covid-19.

The government now says it would be a tall order to achieve the target of fully vaccinating 19 million adults and another 2.9 million teenagers aged between 15–17 by end of June. The state has 36 days to inoculate about 11 million people.

Chairman of the Covid-19 national vaccine deployment task Willis Akhwale, while conceding the target is not feasible, said the government has formulated plans to rejuvenate vaccine uptake.

Planned meetings

“Practically, we may not reach the target, but we have started planning meetings on the way forward,” he told People Daily yesterday.

Dr Akhwale said the first two weeks of June will be critical in addressing the gaps that led to the low uptake. He believes lifting of most of the Covid-19 restrictions led to apathy among Kenyans, thus affecting the uptake.

“We are categorical that the campaign should resume by the end of June. We want to do this before the election,” he noted. In March, the ministry announced plans to fully vaccinate at least 19 million adults – 70 per cent of the adult population – by end of June and an estimated 27 million adults  by the end of the year.

“During the same period, it will also aim to fully vaccinate 2.9 million teenagers aged 15-17 years – 50 per cent of the population – and the entire teenage population of 5.8 million by end of December 2022,” data released by the Ministry then revealed.