The Ministry of Health on Sunday announced that the government will begin the process of issuing Mpox vaccinations to Kenyans in December.
According to the Principal Secretary (PS) of Public Health Mary Muthoni, Kenya is set to receive doses for the Mpox virus through the Centres for Disease Control(CDC) and also from its efforts multilateral efforts.
This is mainly due to the Mpox vaccine shortage that has seen many nations struggle for the little doses that are currently available.
Muthoni revealed that the government will continue with its efforts of keeping the disease at bay through its efforts that include border surveillance.
The PS added that the country has continuously enhanced surveillance at its borders with 1.5 million travelers having been screened as of Friday, November 1. To achieve this, the Ministry has been using a multiagency, working jointly with local authorities as it seeks to secure the country from the virus.
''We have also enhanced a lot of surveillance when we need to know what is happening at the border and especially in the more high-risk counties like Taita Taveta, Busia, and Mombasa. We have deployed teams there to work with the county governments,’’ Muthoni stated.
‘’We are ensuring that all our ports of entry are manned properly, just to ensure that everybody who comes to the country is screened,’’ she added.
According to the Ministry of Health, the government is still very keen and will continue with its multi-agency approach of putting in place mechanisms to see to it that Kenya does not record further cases.
''As a country, we may not have seen an increase in the number, however, our neighbours are still having some cases and it is important to note that we are not out of the woods. We must still remain very vigilant so that Mpox is not going to be with us here in the long run,’’ Muthoni stated.
Currently, there are only 5.6 million doses available for the African continent even as the prices for the vaccines continue to remain high despite the high uptake demand from most countries that are affected.
‘’As CDC we are aspiring to vaccinate all vulnerable groups and communities in Africa to reach everywhere and we are mobilizing our member countries and partners to achieve that,’’ noted a CDC representative.
Mpox virus is a severe zoonotic disease, typically transmitted to humans from fruit bats, with symptoms including high fever, severe headaches, and bleeding from body openings.
