On Monday morning in the vaccine administration department of the district hospital in Malindi there was already a long queue of people waiting to be vaccinated with the new doses of Oxford AstraZeneca arrived in the country at 8 am.
Many young people and especially many employees of hotels, hospitality facilities, restaurants and even private homes in Malindi, Watamu and Mambrui.
The awareness campaign implemented by the Italian community has been effective in this sense.
Entrepreneurs and residents, in advocating the vaccine (without forcing, of course) have also been grafted by our daily information, which highlights how Kenya must as soon as possible reach a high percentage of vaccinated people in order to hope to reopen a corridor for tourism to save the winter season. But above all, they seek to protect the health of citizens, who are often unaware of the importance of immunisation because they are (also rightly) caught up in what appear to be priorities for a lower-middle class Kenyan, in addition to their salary and consequently the possibility of feeding their families.
"As soon as the vaccination process was opened to all adults,' says Pasquale Tiritò, owner of the Jacaranda Resort and two other hotels in Watamu, 'I immediately sent my staff to get the first dose. I invite all my colleagues to do the same.
In addition to thousands of permanent workers in tourism and related industries, there are also many seasonal employees currently at home. For them, going to an interview and seeking employment without having been vaccinated could be a handicap. This is not a matter of medical conviction or prejudice of any kind, but simply to have someone on staff who could be infected with Covid-19 is to put the business and other employees at risk of isolation and temporary closure.
I told my houseboy that the final decision on whether or not to vaccinate was clearly up to him and that I would not have fired him if he had decided not to do so," explains G.M., an Italian pensioner and owner of a house in Malindi. He preferred to be vaccinated, he came on Tuesday morning for the first dose and in less than an hour he had already done it. At this point I advised him to proceed in the same way in order to protect his family".
At this point it would be important for all residents or anyone who has a home with local people in their employ to act accordingly.
Having as many people as possible vaccinated in tourist destinations could hasten the Government's decisions on 'Covid Free' destinations, which could move out of the so-called 'Band E' of countries to which travel is banned and quarantine is required on return.
From our appeal (which you can see by clicking here) to the requests of tour operators and entrepreneurs in the tourism sector who operate and have invested in Kenya, to the interest of our Embassy and some parliamentarians, the situation has made some progress. In the meantime, the recognition of Green Pass vaccines for those who have had them in Kenya has been achieved, and now the possible reduction to 5 days or elimination of quarantine on return is being discussed, but the real goal is to declare the coast of Kenya a monitored area for Covid-19, allowing vaccinated people to go there for tourism and return, with a negative swab anyway, without quarantine.
Some destinations, such as the Red Sea, Maldives, Mauritius and the Dominican Republic appear to be ahead of Kenya, but the attempt is to bring one of the most popular tourist destinations for Italians during the winter months into line with the others.
Those who live in Kenya and care about the economic situation of the tourism sector and those who work there, after the announcement of mass vaccinations, should therefore do their part by inviting as many people as possible to get vaccinated.