The Kenya Medical Association has expressed concern about the commercialisation of the Sputnik V vaccine in the country.
The association said the move has locked out many Kenyans from accessing the vaccine contrary to an earlier assurance that the vaccines will be available to the population for free or at a small surcharge fee.
This, they said, has set a dangerous precedent that can result in the vaccines being priced out of the market and leaving out more than 40 per cent of Kenyans who live below the poverty line.
"Vaccines are our last hope in controlling the Covid-19 pandemic and we are troubled that the high markups for retailers might lock out millions of people from accessing the vaccines," KMA said in a statement on Sunday.
The medics also said they have noted the vaccines roll out is being conducted in a haphazard manner in the last few weeks locking out the Phase 1 and the above 58 years old senior citizens.
"The Ministry of Health should stick to the phase 1 and accelerated Phase 2 approach in order to ensure that the most vulnerable in the society are protected first," they said.
The medics said they supported the initiative announced by the Ministry of Health where the government will be the only entity to engage and import the vaccines directly from the manufacturers.
However, in situations where a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) will be required to fast-track the vaccination of Kenyans, the medics want the call for expression of interest to be done in an open and transparent manner through the print media to ensure the process is accountable.
They also demanded the importation, pricing and roll-out of the vaccine be aligned to National and Global Policies and Strategies and that the importations are WHO approved and meet the global safety standards.
"The Vaccines to be imported should be those shown to be effective against the local strains of Covid-19 virus in the country and region and should be affordable and free from profiteering as was the case with the PPEs at the start of the pandemic," KMA said.
The medics said assuring all Kenyans access to both doses of the vaccine in their respective risk categories will prevent panic and a stampede.
They called for the vaccination process to be highly ethical and transparent.
"All forms of fraud and cheating by both providers and consumers should be discouraged, monitored and heavily punished irrespective of the status of the culprit. We do believe that if this is done, it will ensure that there is an equitable roll-out of the vaccines in Kenya in a manner that is transparent and accountable," KMA added.
