Some 4,455 sports persons and officials have so far been vaccinated against Covid-19.

Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed sounded optimistic in her announcment as she predcited a quick resumption to field activities.

The vaccinations started at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, two weeks after President Uhuru Kenyatta suspended all sporting activities in the country as part of efforts to control the spread of the coronavirus.

“As the mass vaccination exercise for the first dose comes to an end (Monday) I am pleased to report that we have so far vaccinated 4,255 of the target population who reside in Nairobi county,” CS Amina said in a press statement on Monday.

“Further, another 200 based in other Counties outside Nairobi City have also been vaccinated. 

We plan to continue with the vaccination exercise in consultation with the Ministry of Health to cover any athlete or athlete handler set for national assignments who may have been left out due to factors beyond their control,” she said.

She added: “On 8th April, we rolled out an extensive vaccination exercise targeting all our national Teams with specific priority to Teams participating in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

The CS explained that the exercise was key as Kenya prepares to host major international sporting events that include World Under-20 Championships, World Rally Championships, Rugby Barthes Cup and Nairobi Continental Tour.

Further more, Amina assured national team players who missed out on the exercise that the government will cater for them.

“We plan to continue vaccination exercise in consultation with the Ministry of Health to cover any athlete or athlete handler set for national assignments and may have been left out due to factors beyond their control,” Amina said in a statement.

While vaccination is not a mandatory requirement for athletes competing in the delayed Games Amina said athletes are now safe to travel and participate in international events.

“This exercise will pave way for our teams to safely compete in international events with the full protection of the vaccine,” she said.