Members of Parliament are joining Government officials in urging Kenyans to get the Covid-19 vaccine before the December festivities begin, occasions that bring family and friends together in the cities and countryside.
Answering a question by Citizen TV Day Break Show Host Trevor Ombija, ‘should vaccination be pegged on government services?’ Gladys Wanga, Homabay County MP, said a firm YES backed with facts and borrowing examples from other countries and the peculiar habits of Kenyas.
“I am a full supporter of either you are vaccinated, or you don’t access services,” said Wanga.
“For as long as we have vaccines, we should find a mechanism of ensuring our people are vaccinated. You cannot have your cake and eat it. These are the same people, same Kenyans who said, lift the curfew, we don’t want curfew. We don’t want to sit in our homes, we don’t want anything that is denying us our normal usual life,” she added.
Wanga reminded Kenyans that they are the ones who demanded the lifting of the curfew and other restrictions to curtail the spread of the vaccine and instead chose the return of a normal life.
However, it remained the ‘cardinal responsibility of the government to ensure her citizens are safe and the country remains a safe space where we are removed from the red list’.
She urged Kenyans to get vaccinated and agreed to the use of incentives to ensure people are vaccinated and increase our numbers as a country.
Wanga warned that when vaccination was left as optional, and another wave hit, ‘we (Kenyans) will start crying…why have you returned curfew, lockdown?’ Countries have different approaches to ensure their people are vaccinated. Some deny travel, and Kenya has chosen the ‘no services route.”
