The Acting Director-General for Health Dr. Patrick Amoth has provided more details on the highly transmissible Covid-19 new variant.
In an engagement #AskTheDG via Twitter, Amoth disclosed that the variant had the potential for vaccine escape.
It has been named B.1.1.529 and was first detected in three countries- Botswana, South Africa, and Hong Kong.
Though it has been restricted to the three countries, there are fears that it could return to the global scene. He expressed concerns that the variant, given the nature of the pandemic, could enter the country, which could be catastrophic to unvaccinated people.
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"Our National Public Health Emergency Operation Centre is still fully activated to facilitate coordination of response to the pandemic. Stand-by trained Rapid Response Teams at both national, county and sub-county levels are on high alert for immediate investigative deployment," part of his post read.
In response, the Ministry of Health has said that passengers travelling into the country from the listed countries will undergo quarantine and repeated testing on entry.
Amoth remarked that the entry points into Kenya would start rigorous screening of all passengers, having proof of vaccination certificates. The Negative Covid-19 PCR certificates must have been taken 96hours before arriving in the country.
He urged Kenyans who have not been fully vaccinated to be vaccinated following the abundance of the vaccine in the country while calling to both vaccinated and unvaccinated to adhere to the Health Ministry protocols.
"The Ministry of Health is keenly monitoring the situation and will provide further advisory as more information emerges. Let us take care of ourselves and each other."
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