Mandatory COVID Vaccination Suspended in Kenya

Last month Kenya's authorities announced the obligatory requirement to present vaccination certificates to access government services taking effect December 21.

RELATED:

Barbados Confers 'Order of Freedom' Award To Kenya’s President

On Tuesday, Antony Mrima, High Court Judge, repealed the measure because of the accusations made by a businessman who termed the directive "tyrannical" and noted it as a gross violation of the constitution.

The directive has been criticized as discriminatory by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and campaigners, which called on the government to abandon the plan, which requires as well proof of full vaccination. "While the government has an obligation to protect its people from serious public health threats, the measures must be reasonable and proportional," HRW declared on Tuesday.

"Requiring proof of vaccination to access public services may act as a powerful incentive for people to get vaccinated, but the way it is carried out should also account for the numerous reasons that a person may not be able to receive the vaccine in time," added the rights watchdog.

The lifting of a nationwide curfew, stated since March 2020, was announced last October by President Uhuru Kenyatta. "It is now time to shift our focus from survival to co-existing with the disease," he stated at the time.

Kenya has only 3.2 million people fully vaccinated, representing only 12 percent of the adult population, well under the government target's expectations of 10 million by the end of this year. By December 2022, the government expects to arrive at 27 million people fully vaccinated.

"This is even more critical with the emergence of the Omicron variant. Experts have warned that it is more infectious than previous forms of the virus," Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe said.