Only 35.6 per cent of teachers are fully vaccinated as deadline looms
As the clock ticks to the final hour for all civil servants to get the jab against Covid-19 by Monday, August 23, latest data shows that only 35.6 per cent of teachers have fully complied receiving the life-saving shots.
In a memo dated August 20 by the Public Service Commission, disciplinary actions, including denial of access to offices, stoppage of salaries, and withdrawal of allowances and benefits, will be taken against the civil servants who will not be vaccinated by the set deadline.
However, the Kenya National Union of Teachers secretary general Collins Oyuu has called on the government to stop issuing ultimatums on the vaccination drive, saying the vaccines are yet to reach some places.
Meanwhile, just 2.9 per cent of the entire adult population in Kenya has received at least a shot on the arm.
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The government plans to vaccinate 10 million people by close of the year with 26 million people expected to have been vaccinated by the end of 2022.
So far, over 2.3 million doses of vaccine have been administered in the country, of these, over 1.6 million are the first doses while over 780,000 people have been fully vaccinated.
Nairobi County leads the vaccination uptake at 8.4 per cent, followed by Nyeri at 6.3 per cent.
The counties of Marsabit and Wajir has vaccinated the least percentage at 0.3 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively.
According to the latest vaccination data from the Ministry of Health, only 9.1 per cent of the priority group has been fully vaccinated, leaving 91 per cent of the members vulnerable and in much need of the vaccine.
A total of 646 people tested positive for Covid-19 from a sample size of 6,039 tested in the last 24 hours. The country’s positivity rate is now at 10.7 per cent.
At the same time, 30 patients succumbed to the virus, pushing cumulative fatalities to 4,497.