Kenya is one of the first African countries to announce a plan to commence booster COVID-19 shots to individuals six months after their initial shots.
The announcement was made by the country’s health ministry via a document published as far back as Saturday, due to the sudden surge in the number of reported COVID cases in the country.
As of last month, the country demands proof of vaccination in order to access public spaces and transport starting from Dec. 21st.
The mandate wasn’t met with good reception by residents due to the country’s low vaccination rate.
In fact, it’s only a little over 14% of Kenyan adults that had been fully vaccinated, something prevalent across other African countries.
However, a court has since halted this enforcement of proof of vaccination to access public places due to uncertainty over who would police it and what to do about those who have been unable to access vaccines.
The East African country confirmed the presence of the Omicron coronavirus variant in the country almost two weeks ago and on Friday registered nearly 33% positive cases from a little more than 9,000 COVID-19 tests.
However, combating the strain continues as the health ministry announced on Friday that Pfizer shots can be given to children over the age of 15.
Kenya makes use of shots from pharmaceutical companies like AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson.