Nairobi — It is now mandatory for public servants in Kenya to get the COVID-19 jab.
The new directive is contained in a confidential circular issued to all Principal Secretaries and Accounting Officers by the Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua.
In the circular seen by Capital FM News, public servants are required to get vaccinated by August 23 failure to which they will face disciplinary action.
“It was also observed that some public servants have deliberately avoided being vaccinated so that they can stay from work under disguise of working from home. This has negatively affected service delivery to the public,” Kinyua stated in the memo.
President Uhuru Kenyatta was among the first to be vaccinated against COVID-19 on March 26, 2021 when the first consignment of the Astrazenecca vaccine was shipped in.
Kinyua said all public servants will be prioritized in the ongoing vaccination exercise and that those who will not have been given the first jab by August 23 will face disciplinary action.
By Aug 9, a total of 1,804,375 vaccines had been administered across the country among them 1,105,470 who received the first dose. 698,905 had completed the two doses of AstraZenecca.
On Friday, Kenya received some 182,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from the Greek government in what raised the number of vaccines received in the country so far to 2,323,100.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said the government expects more vaccine doses to boost the ongoing vaccination campaign targeting 10 million people by December 2021.