Students who sat their KCSE exam in 2022 and are currently waiting to join institutions of higher learning will be prioritised for Covid-19 vaccinations.

This is even as the deadline to submit their course choices lapsed on Thursday, after an opening for 14 days.

Health PS Susan Mochache said the students will be prioritised due to their out-of-school interactions.

“In particular, we are keen to reach the more than 800,000 young people who completed their KCSE in April 2022 and have now joined the community,” Mochache said.

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According to Mochahce, the targeted group is at risk of contracting infections as they explore different aspects of life.

“We appeal to all their parents and guardians to encourage the young adults to be vaccinated before they join their next level of education,” she added.

Some 144,461 learners who scored C+ and above will be elligible for degree courses in the available 70 universities.

The remaining almost 600,000 students can also take up slots as self-sponsored students or opt for TVETs.

Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement will for the first time enroll students in primary teacher training colleges.

The 32 government-owned institutions are open for applications.

A process to challenge the directive by the head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua for all civil servants to get the covid-19 jab has begun. In the suit papers filed by a lawyer at the High Court registry in Nakuru, the August 5 directive is said to be infringing on public officers’ right to privacy.

Lawyer Clement Koigi,through lawyer Kipkoech Ng’etich,claims Kinyua’s directive amounted to making vaccination compulsory for all public officers. “Every vaccination system that mandates any negative consequence as a result of refusing to carry out a vaccination is ‘compulsory vaccination as these consequences can and are intended to influence one’s decision to get vaccinated,”reads the suit.

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The case was filed on 21^st at the registry but it is yet to be allocated to a judge for directions. Kinyua, the Public Service Commission and the Ministry of Health have been named as respondents in the case.The Federation of Kenya Employers is listed as an interested party in the case.

In the directive, all civil servants are required to have received the jab by August 23. Those who will not have been vaccinated will be considered disciplinary cases and appropriate action will be taken against those who had not received. The memo indicated that some public servants deliberately avoided being vaccinated to stay away from work under the guise of working from home hence having a negative impact on service delivery.

Kinyua had directed all Principal Secretaries and accounting officers to ensure full implementation of the said decision. However, Koigi claims the decision limits the constitutional rights of public officers to life,equality and freedom from discrimination, human dignity, and security of the person as well as privacy.

He says the directive is not based on any law and the limitation is unreasonable and unjustifiable in an open and democratic society based on human dignity, equality and freedom.” Additionally, the decision was made unilaterally by Head of Public Service without any public participation, which is in violation of the national values and principles of governance, as enshrined in Article 10 of the Constitution,” the suit papers.

Requiring any public officer to disclose whether they have been vaccinated, Koigi says, will be a violation of the right to privacy. The suit indicates that the decision was neither made by law nor

was the limitation prescribed by any of the laws of Kenya. Further, the limitation did not point out an legitimate aim for the exercise.

Mr Ng’etich claims the decision is unreasonable and no prior notice was given before the same was made. He says not even a single public officer who declines to be vaccinated should be subjected to disciplinary proceedings. “Subjecting a public officer to disciplinary proceedings for refusing to be vaccinated is discrimination, and allowing the said decision to be implemented is allowing the government to overthrow the rights and freedoms of all public officers,” stated Ng’etich.

In the suit, Koigi wants the court to issue orders suspending the implmentation of the decision contained in the letter dated August 5.

The teachers service commission, TSC, has launched a nation-wide crackdown on teachers who are yet to take the covid-19 jab.

In what seems like a command from the TSC headquarters, TSC county directors have already began sending memos to their sub county directors, directing them to take daily records of vaccinated teachers and officers.

“You are required to coordinate teachers and officers under your respective jurisdiction to get vaccinated. Provide data on those vaccinated using the attached template,” reads part of a memo addressed to the TSC sub county directors by their county bosses.

The sub county directors will be reporting the data obtained to the county directors daily at 2pm, who will in turn forward the records to the TSC headquarters for counterchecks.

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What this implies is that principals will be tasked to collect this data and report to the TSC sub county directors daily. Details required from the principals are names of the newly vaccinated teachers under their jurisdiction daily, their gender, and the daily grand total.

For teachers to have their names captured, they will have to show the message from the Ministry Of Health, indicating that proof of vaccination.

Prior to this directive, the teachers service commission had given teachers a maximum of seven days to have full dosage of astra zeneca vaccine, prior to which, disciplinary action will be taken against them.

“What TSC is doing is to enforce the Kinyua directive among teachers, failure to which there will be penalties such as withholding the next salaries for those who will not have taken the jab upon the expiry of the seven-day notice,” said a source, who sought anonymity.

Teachers Service Commission (TSC) gave the tutors, from both public and private schools, seven days to take the full dosage of the Covid-19 AstraZeneca Vaccine in line with a directive by Public Service head joseph Kinyua that all pubic servants take the TSC doses or face unspecified disciplinary measures.

Emerging details have it that it’s now compulsory for all civil servants and teachers to be vaccinated Covid-19.

In his most recent communication to all Principal Secretaries and Accounting Officers, Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua threatened that disciplinary action will be taken against public servants who would not have received their first Covid-19 jab by August 23, 2021.

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Kinyua noted that the government was left with no options but to arrive at the decision due to the reluctance in taking the vaccine among public servants, especially the security sector, teachers and the core civil service despite increased access of the vaccines to the groups.

“In a recent NSAC meeting, it was reported that there was a low uptake of Covid-19 vaccines among public servants especially the security sector, teachers and the core civil service. This is against a background of access to vaccines having greatly improved especially among these groups,” Kinyua said in a circular dated August 5.

Kinyua alleged that some civil servants intentionally avoid getting vaccinated to stay away from work under the pretense of working from home, a habit that has negatively affected service delivery to the public.

“It has therefore been decided that all civil servants will be prioritized in the ongoing vaccination exercise and that those who will not have been given the la jab by 23rd August 2021 be treated as discipline cases and appropriate action taken against them,” he added.

“Principal Secretaries and Accounting Officers are hereby instructed to ensure full implementation of this decision.”

Latest Statistics from the Ministry of Health indicates that over 1.8 free vaccines have so far been administered across the country. Of these, total first doses are 1,105,470 while second doses are 698,905.

“The uptake of the second dose among those who received their first dose is at 63.2% with the majority being males at 55% while females are at 45%,” said Health CS Mutahi Kagwe adding that the proportion of adults fully vaccinated is 2.6%.

The total number of Covid-19 cases confirmed in the country so far stands at 212,573 from 2.2 million tests conducted.

Kenyans can now apply for compensation in case of any bodily injury or serious illness caused by the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.The compensation applications have opened but one can only make a claim 30 days after injection.

Although the AstraZeneca vaccine is proven to be extremely safe, compensation for any serious side effect was instituted to instil confidence, experts said.

Compensation will be made by US-based risk management services provider ESIS Inc, a subsidiary of the giant Swiss insurer Chubb Ltd.The programme covers serious bodily injury or illness that requires hospitalisation or prolongs an existing hospitalization, or injuries that result in permanent total or partial impairment, or death.

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Deaths attract the highest compensation, at Sh10,000 per day of hospitalisation up to a maximum of Sh600,000.Pregnant women who receive the vaccine can also be paid if it harms the unborn child or results in miscarriage.

Payments for the rest is calculated based on GDP per capita of Kenya x12x the given harm factor resulting from the vaccine.

“The reason for this 30-day waiting period is to allow registered healthcare professionals to determine whether the adverse event which you have suffered (or the person you represent, has suffered) is indeed serious,” Covax said.

Minor side-effects such as pain, headache or fever will not be paid for.Applications are made through the www.covaxclaims.com website.

Kenyans who take the Sputnik V or any other vaccine not in the Covax programme cannot apply for compensation.

All applications must be supported by evidence from a registered nurse, medical doctor or pharmacist who will provide documentary evidence.

Covax said all applications will be thoroughly scrutinised and those eligible for compensation will be notified within 30 days.

The patients or their representatives will be notified to choose the method of payment they prefer, and money will be wired within 28 days.

The scheme also warned those who make falsified claims or forge documents will be chased to the courts and prosecuted.

The compensation scheme started on March 31, 2021, and runs until June 30, 2022.To be paid you will sign an agreement committing not to pursue any other compensation.

“By providing a no-fault lump-sum compensation in full and final settlement of any claims, the Covax programme aims to significantly reduce the need for recourse to the law courts, a potentially lengthy and costly process,” WHO said in a statement last month.