It would be national disgrace to neglect our elderly today

With Covid-19 positivity rates at 18.5 per cent and deaths suspected to be higher than the recorded 2,167, the race for a vaccine-nation cannot be more intense. Allow us to continue the discussion on the state of the nations’ vaccination programme and sustain a degree of public wokeness.

Mariko Samoei receiving a jab for a covid-19 vaccination on Monday March 29, 2021 at Huruma sub-county hospital in Eldoret Uasin Gishu county. [Christopher Kipsang, Standard]

800,000 doses were dispatched countrywide and 196,435 persons received their first jabs according to the Health Ministry on April 1. An equity analysis suggests 56 per cent of them are male, 38 per cent are health-workers, 24 per cent are teachers and a paltry 7 per cent are security officers. The remaining 42 per cent cannot be analysed as the Ministry have unhelpfully termed them, “other”. Given the high vulnerability of the elderly to COVID-19, it would be useful to have age differentiated data as well.