COVID-19 VACCINE TO THE SEAFARERS

The Kenya Navy Medical team conducted a Covid -19 vaccination exercise to sea-farers at Bandari Maritime Academy in Mombasa on 13 April 2021.

The exercise, which saw 100 seafarers vaccinated, comes at a time when cruise lines in the Indian Ocean have made the COVID -19 vaccination a mandatory requirement for the seafarers before setting sail on the international waters and entering foreign ports.

The exercise was also aimed at enhancing Civil Military Co-operation between the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) and Kenya Navy in order to uphold strong working relations to ensure sustainable, safe and secure marine environment geared towards the attainment of the blue economy.

Present during the exercise was Captain (Dr) Hillary Gikuru who urged the sea- farers to be cautious of myths and mis-information about the COVID-19 vaccine doing rounds on social media.
“Alot of people are looking for information themselves on the social media platforms and unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation present in there. This vaccine is safe and will offer a possible path out of this phase of the pandemic,” assured Captain (Dr) Gikuru.

Mr. Fredrick Samba, a Marine Officer at Kenya Maritime Authority lauded the Kenya Navy Medical Team for extending the vaccination services to the KMA. He reminded the seafarers to adhere to the covid-19 preventive measures laid down by the Ministry of Health, even as they regularly travel by sea.