Uhuru directs entire cabinet to get Covid-19 jab
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday directed his entire Cabinet and executive office to get vaccinated for Covid-19.
Chief of Staff in the Office of the President, Nzioka Waita, said as the government enhances the national Covid-19 vaccination program, it was good to lead by getting the Covid-19 jab.
“As the Government scales up the rollout of the national #COVID19Vaccine program, H.E the President has directed his entire Cabinet and Executive Office to lead by example and get the jab!” he said.
As the Government scales up the roll out of the national #COVID19Vaccine program , H.E the President has directed his entire Cabinet & Executive Office to lead by example & get the jab! Received mine this morning under the watchful guidance of the @MOH_Kenya vaccination team. pic.twitter.com/oTV10NU4OV
— Nzioka Waita (@NziokaWaita) March 26, 2021
“Headed the call receiving the jab Friday morning under the guidance of the Ministry of Health vaccination team,” added Waita.
Cabinet Secretaries who have not taken the vaccine are now expected to follow suit as well as staff in the executive office of the President.
Minutes later, Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Industrialization Betty Maina also got vaccinated.
“Got my first dose. Thank you #teamhealth,” she tweeted.
Got my first dose. Thank you #teamhealth. pic.twitter.com/FYviTOskVN
— CS Betty C Maina (@maina_betty) March 26, 2021
The President’s order is an about-turn from government’s communication weeks earlier which stated that state officers were not on the list of receiving the first batch of vaccines.
Two weeks ago, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said he would not jump the jab queue to get vaccinated for the Coronavirus because he was not on the priority list.
“I will not take the vaccine until it gets to my turn on the priority list. If I take it before I will be accused of jumping the queue. If I do not take it, I will be accused of not leading by example. So, I am not sure which is which and that is why I have chosen to await my turn. The worst thing that could happen is if a nurse got Covid-19 because I have taken the vaccine meant for her,” Kagwe said.
His comments came as the clergy called on President Uhuru Kenyatta and members of his cabinet to get a dose of the Coronavirus vaccine in public to reassure Kenyans on its safety.
According to the national Covid-19 vaccines deployment and vaccination plan, Kenya was to initiate Phase 1 of inoculation between February and June 2021, targeting 1.25 million people, key among them frontline health workers and other cadres in priority sectors.
Phase II, which will run between July and June, will target the most vulnerable including the elderly and those above 18 years with comorbidities. It targets 9.76 million people.
“To date, we have vaccinated 64,100 persons and the last two days we have had an average of 10,000 vaccinations administered. Over the next two weeks, we aim to be vaccinating over 20,000 people per day,” MoH said in a Tweet on Wednesday evening.