The prison department has embarked on the process of vaccinating all the inmates and staff in the country’s penal institution against Covid-19.
Under the joint programme, over 50,000 inmates and 48,000 members of staff will be vaccinated amid reports of a fourth wave in the coming months.
This came as the correction services announced plans to reopen the prisons for visitation after one year of closure due to the pandemic.
According to the Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) in the Ministry of Interior Winnie Guchu, there were over 5,000 remand suspects currently in quarantine.
She noted that they were keen to contain the spread of the virus in the prison where social distancing and provision of water was a challenge.
“We have requested 100,000 doses of vaccine of which 50,000 will be used to vaccinate inmates and 48,000 for staff,” she said.
Speaking in Naivasha on Thursday after meeting partners who are supporting the fight against the pandemic in prison, Guchu said that 14 inmates had to date died from Covid-19.
The CAS at the same time said that plans were underway to reopen prisons for visits after one year of closure due to the pandemic.
“Many inmates have been stressed due to the suspension of visits to prisons and we are working with the Ministry of Health to open the prisons in phases,” she said.
She at the same time added that the Ministry of Health had embarked on a four month survey in all the prisons to establish the effects of the pandemic on inmates.
The Deputy Secretary-General Kenya Red Cross Society Annette Msabeni said that they were working closely with prisons in reducing risks of infections in the penal institutions.
She admitted that the pandemic had caused fear and stress among the inmates and staff and hence the on-going counselling sessions.
“We have seen levels of resistance in taking the vaccines and we shall use the counselling sessions to convince the inmates to get vaccinated,” she said.
On his part, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Olivier Dubois attributed the health crisis in prisons to congestion and called for enhanced vigilance.
“There are inmates with special needs and though the worst is over, we need collaboration in fighting this pandemic in the prisons,” he said.
Others who spoke were the Prisons Deputy Commissioner-General Florence Omondi who noted that the lockdown had affected many inmates mentally.
“This inmates are parents too who are keen to interact with their kin and the visitations will help address the issues of mental health,” she said.