Kenya has vaccinated almost a million people. This is pretty low considering there are over 20 million adults in the country’s 50 million-strong population. Uptake of the vaccine has been marred by myths, misconceptions and misinformation about the Covid jab though the response has been more positive in urban more than rural areas.

It was even more confusing when Catholic doctors in Kenya joined nurses in public health facilities in their misgivings about getting the vaccine. Chairperson of the vaccine taskforce in Kenya, Dr Willis Akhwale, said that he had to put in a lot of effort to combat misinformation regarding the jab.

Common misinformation included that vaccines altered one's DNA, caused cancer, had microchips and did not work. Many Kenyans were also made to believe that they caused side-effects including infertility and the speed at which they were developed was too quick and thus might not have been safe. Of course, you might have heard the one about the vaccines being a foreign campaign to reduce African populations were enriching Western drug multinationals.