Although there might be skepticism about the Covid-19 vaccine in some parts of the world, Kenyans are eager to be vaccinated and from the virus.
As the third wave has made people more interested in getting vaccinated, demand has pushed up, almost 900,000 people have been inoculated with the first dose.
To cope with the crisis, the Metropolitan Hospital in Nairobi has required people to schedule vaccination appointments one day ahead of time.
“The third wave is a bit extreme. People have realized that if you don’t get vaccinated, you are likely to get a severe form of COVID-19. And that I think has greatly triggered people to come to facilities and demand vaccines. And I think it’s a good thing. The attitude has completely changed. People want to receive the vaccine as soon as they can,” said Elijah Ongeri, head of nursing at the Metropolitan Hospital.
“As a teacher, we normally interact with the pupils; we interact with the students, we interact with the colleagues, so it’s quite prone to the pandemic, the COVID-19, I mean. That’s the reason why I have just decided to come and get the jab. I have gotten the jab, and actually, I felt normal,” said English teacher Ezra Mungai.
Vaccination is available for teachers like Ezra, medical professionals, police and defense officers, and others above the age of 58.
According to Rudi Eggers, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Representative to Kenya, Kenyans’ strong readiness to get vaccinated can help the country tackle the third wave of the disease. Still, it may also lead to Covid-19 vaccine shortage.
“Almost all of those doses have now been given. And due to the export restrictions from India, the next shipment has been delayed. So, we are currently in a situation where the supply of vaccines is the biggest problem. So, we do encourage countries to actually also, in addition to the COVAX Facility, to source the vaccine bilaterally from the manufacturer,” said Eggers
Kenya obtained the first shipment of AstraZeneca vaccines from the COVAX Facility in March, totaling about one million doses.
According to WHO estimates, the nation has recorded more than 155,000 cases and more than 2,500 deaths.
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