World Health Organization has dismissed claims by some doctors affiliated to the Catholic church that the Covid-19 vaccine could be unsafe.
The WHO's Nairobi office said the claims are untrue.
“Our attention is drawn to the falsehoods and uncertainties being circulated about this vaccine as unnecessary, questionable or unsafe,” it said in a statement.
The statement said that WHO had affirmed that the Astra Zeneca vaccine produced by India’s Serum Institute and being distributed in Kenya, had been reviewed and found to be safe.
“We would also like to reiterate and assure the public that this vaccine and others recently developed are safe. They have indeed been developed and produced in record time, but the regulatory and scientific reviews of the vaccines have not been compromised.”
WHO further congratulated the Nyeri Catholic Archbishop Anthony Muheria for encouraging faithful to embrace the vaccine.
“We are encouraged by the confidence and leadership provided by world religious leaders like Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI who have received the first doses of the vaccine,” the WHO said.
Archbishop Muheria is also the chairperson of the Interfaith Council on Covid-19 in Kenya.
Praising Bishop Muheria for his call on faithful to embraces the Covid-19 vaccine, WHO said it was generally encouraged by the position taken by the Catholic Church in Kenya for rallying support for the vaccine.
“Archbishop Anthony Muheria, Nyeri Archdiocese has dismissed the rejection of vaccine and encouraged it’s faithful to embrace it,” said the statement.
Last week Kenya Catholic Doctors Association objected to the administering of the Covid-19 vaccination.
