Mass vaccination on as Kenya races to check raging Covid-19 wave
The Ministry of Health is intensifying the mass vaccination campaign which kicked off on Saturday, August 7, in Nairobi County as Covid-19 infections continue to surge in the country.
The exercise, which is being carried out by the ministry in partnership with the Nairobi Metropolitan Services and the National Multi-Agency Command Centre, was rolled out at Taj Mall stage in Embakasi, and saw an encouraging turnout on the first day.
The exercise is scheduled to continue at the Taj Mall stage, Jacaranda grounds, Kariobangi market, Holy Cross Catholic Church Dandora Phase 3, PCEA Church and Kings Celebration Gospel Church Soweto Muungano even as plans get underway for countrywide vaccination.
Kenya plans to vaccinate at least 10 million people by December.
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Data from the Health Ministry indicate that a total of 1,800,174 vaccines have so far been administered across the country. Of these, the total first doses are 1,102,232 while the second doses are 697,942. So far, Kenya has received a total of 2,323,100 vaccines.
The uptake of the second dose among those who received their first dose is at 63.4 per cent with the majority being males at 55 per cent while females are at 45 per cent. The proportion of adults fully vaccinated is 2.6 per cent.
Meanwhile, a total of 800 people tested positive for COVID-19 from a sample size of 6,530 tested in the last 24 hours.
The positivity rate is now 12.3 per cent, with the total confirmed infections rising to 211,828 and cumulative tests so far conducted are 2,190,806.
In a statement, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said 278 patients recovered from the coronavirus; 149 were discharged from various health facilities countrywide while 129 are from home-based isolation and care. Total recoveries stand at 197,307.
However, the CS noted that 32 patients succumbed to the virus, all of them being late deaths reported after conducting facility record audits in April, May, June, July and August 2021. This pushes the cumulative fatalities to 4,149.
Currently, a total of 1,719 patients are admitted to various health facilities countrywide.
