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The government yesterday opened up places of worship to be used as Covid-19 vaccination centres as it intensified its campaign to attain the 10 million target by Christmas Day.

It roped in the religious community as it raced to vaccinate at least 2.3 million Kenyans within the next 22 days.

Under the latest initiative, vaccination centres will be opened in 80 places of worship spread across 30 counties. The counties identified include Vihiga, Meru, Uasin Gishu, Turkana, Bomet, Mombasa, Kisii, Laikipia, Kwale, Nairobi and Trans Nzoia.

Others are West Pokot, Kisumu, Kericho, Taita Taveta, Tana River, Baringo, Nyamira, Nyandarua, Narok, Lamu, Bungoma, Isiolo and Kilifi.

By Tuesday, the government had vaccinated a total of 7,787,262 people out of which 4,724,235 were partially vaccinated while the number of those fully vaccinated stood at 3,055,726.

Vaccination centres
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe, in a speech read on his behalf during a meeting with religious leaders yesterday, said the government was determined to ensure it hits the 10 million vaccines target by Christmas Day.

“This means we have about 13 million vaccines which are not yet administered. And this is why the campaign we are launching is very critical,” Kagwe said.

The meeting with religious leaders drawn from the Christian, Muslim and Hindu faiths was to map out various places of worship which will be used as Covid-19 vaccination centres.

After the meeting, the Health ministry officials and the religious leaders expressed hope the ambitious target would be achieved and immediately embarked on a massive drive that will see about 122, 000 people vaccinated daily.

“It is my wish that this campaign will stimulate Kenyans to come out and take vaccines and that we will be able to attain the vaccination targets we have set,” Kagwe said through Chief Administrative Secretary, Dr Rashid Aman.

The CS lauded the move by religious leaders to partner with the government to enhance Covid-19 preventive measures through vaccination and other interventions. “The government will collaborate with you on Covid-19 as well as any other issue that may require our intervention,” he assured the religious leaders under the Inter-Faith Council of Kenya (IRCK).

Kagwe noted that though the country had made good progress in battling the virus, lowering the guard would be a recipe for disaster. He appealed to the religious leaders to mobilise people, majority of them who visit places of worship for spiritual nourishment, to get vaccinated.

He appealed to the religious leaders to sensitise their faithful about safety of the vaccines.

“The vaccines are safe and effective. Experience shows that indeed these vaccines are safe and effective,” he stated.

He reported that Kenya had received 20.8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines so far and administered 7.7 million doses against a projected target of 10 million vaccinations by the end of December 2021.

“I would like to make a passionate appeal to you to pick up this campaign with all that you have and ensure as many congregants as possible are vaccinated. ” he emphasised.

IRCK chairman, the Rev Fr Joseph Mutie said religious leaders will take the lead in the vaccination campaigns and urged Kenyans to shun myths and misconceptions fuelling vaccine hesitancy.

Ignore myths
“More than ever, religious leaders are committing to walk the talk and together with the Government of Kenya, development partners and other key players they are joining hands in addressing challenges facing this country including Covid-19 pandemic,” he added.

The religious leaders also delved into the issue of vaccine myths, misconceptions, and assumptions that lead to hesitancy and appealed to the faithful to shun them.

Hindu Council of Kenya chairman Gupta Kamal encouraged the religious community to get the jab. “We need to ignore the myths and misconceptions, let us reach out to as many as possible and provide mental clarity and emotional help to those who are in need,” he said.
The vaccination awareness campaign by religious leaders dubbed “Imani na Chanjo ya Covid 19’’ will supplement the national accelerated vaccination drive to achieve the 10 million target.

Muslim scholar Said Kissa said the various myths that are being bandied on social media are destructive and not based on any scientific research.
“These assumptions are not helping us. Whatever falsehoods we are spreading, a time will come when they will fail,” he said.