Covid-19: Kenya receives special syringes for Pfizer vaccines

Kenya received the first consignment of special syringes to be used to administer the Pfizer vaccines from next week, the Ministry of Health announced on Saturday.

Upon arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport aboard Qatar Airlines, the syringes were transported to the Central Vaccine Stores in Kitengela. The consignment is the first of the three batches expected in the country before Monday.

So far, the country has administered a total of 3,860,780 vaccines as of Tuesday. Of these, total first doses are 2,934,734 while second doses are 926,046. The uptake of the second dose among those who received their first dose is at 31.6 per cent while the proportion of adults fully vaccinated is 3.4 per cent.

Kenya’s Covid-19 infections have Saturday risen by 298 from a sample size of 6,451 tested in the last 24 hours, raising cumulative cases recorded so far to 250,023.  The positivity rate is now at 4.6 per cent, down from 4.5 per cent on Friday.

 Of the new cases, 295 are Kenyans while three are foreigners and 158 of them are male while 140 are females. The youngest is a three-month-old baby while the oldest is 102 years. The cumulative tests done so far are 2,569,174.

Nairobi County has recorded 35 new cases followed by Kitui with 34, Nyeri 32, Kericho 29, Nakuru 25, Kisii 13, Baringo 13, Kiambu 12, Tharaka Nithi 11, Embu 10, Garissa 6, Kakamega 6, Makueni 6, Migori 6, Laikipia 5, Siaya 5, Machakos 5, Nandi 5, Marsabit 4, Kajiado 4, Kilifi 4, Kirinyaga 4, Bungoma 3, Mombasa 2, Narok 2, Kisumu 2, Busia 2, Meru 2, Uasin Gishu 2, Kwale 2, West Pokot 2, Murang’a 2, Bomet 1, Isiolo 1 and Lamu 1.

According to the Ministry of Health, the number of recovery has risen by 399, with 379 being from the home-based isolation and care while 20 are from various health facilities countrywide. The total recoveries now stand at 242,227 of whom 195,874 are from the home-based care and 46,353 are from various hospitals countrywide.

In its statement to newsrooms on Saturday, the ministry noted that three deaths were reported, all of them being late deaths reported after conducting facility record audits on diverse dates in September 2021. This now pushes the cumulative fatalities to 5,131.

Further, a total of 953 patients are currently admitted to various hospitals countrywide while 2,055 are under the home-based care programme. There are 56 patients in intensive care units, 36 of whom are on ventilatory support and 19 on supplemental oxygen. There is only one person under observation.

 Another 315 patients are separately on supplemental oxygen, with 306 of them in general wards and nine in high dependency units.

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