A health officer administers COVID-19 vaccine jab to a local at Kencom bus stage in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, Dec. 29, 2021. (Xinhua/John Okoyo)
Kenyan Ministry of Health on Friday said it had vaccinated more than 10 million people, achieving a target it had set for itself to attain before the end of 2021.
NAIROBI, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan Ministry of Health on Friday said it had vaccinated more than 10 million people, achieving a target it had set for itself to attain before the end of 2021.
Mutahi Kagwe, the cabinet secretary of the Ministry of Health, said in a statement that out of the 10 million people, 5.8 million are adults who are partially vaccinated while 4.16 million people have taken the two jabs.
"Another 20,121 doses have been administered to those between 15 and 18 years and 5,280 are booster doses," said Kagwe.
A religious leader (C) receives COVID-19 vaccine jab during the launch of vaccine awareness campaign in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, Dec. 8, 2021. (Xinhua/Fred Mutune)
The proportion of adults who are fully vaccinated now stood at 15.3 percent and the government was working to vaccinate its overall target of 27 million people, said the official.
Kagwe observed that the country's cumulative COVID-19 positive cases stood at 295,028 after 2,791 more cases were reported as of Thursday from a sample of 9,384.
The vaccination of the 10 million people comes at a time when the east African nation is battling a surge in COVID-19 confirmed cases caused by the Omicron variant.
Kenya has ramped up vaccination as it also fights vaccine hesitancy by denying some services to the unvaccinated.
President Uhuru Kenyatta earlier on Friday announced that effective Jan. 1, 2022, the government would start to administer booster doses to those who are fully vaccinated to protect them from the new variant. ■
