• Health Ministry on Saturday noted that protocols that currently exist do not allow for vaccine mixing, adding that there is no scientific evidence to support that.
• Kenya has been exploring other sources of the vaccine including through the Africa CDC platform and through bilateral talks.
Kenyans have been advised to be patient as the government tries to explore alternative sources of the vaccines for the second dose.
There has been a lot of anxiety that those who took the first dose might miss out on the second, with reports indicating that the second dose might be of a different brand.
But the Health Ministry on Saturday noted that protocols that currently exist do not allow for vaccine mixing, adding that there is no scientific evidence to support that.
As at Friday, at least 802,000 people had been inoculated with the first dose of AZ vaccine.
“In Kenya we all got the AstraZeneca dose for those who managed to get the first dose. It is expected and our plan as government is to still issue you with AstraZeneca as the second dose so in the future when you see us bringing in Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer or any other vaccine, it doesn’t mean that you are allowed to mix,” Health CAS Mercy Mwangangi said.
She added: “You cannot get AstraZeneca today and then 12 weeks later you go and get Pfizer. That is not the protocol we are following as government and yes currently there are trials underway to be able to see if you can mix, but no evidence is out yet.”
With India having banned the exportation of vaccines that are largely produced by the Serum Institute, Kenya has been exploring other sources of the vaccine including through the Africa CDC platform and through bilateral talks.
On Wednesday, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe noted that plans are at advanced stage to import at least one million doses of the Johnson and Johnson and Pfizer vaccines to help bridge the shortage gap.
“Personally I am not holding my breath in terms of deliveries in May given what we have now seen is happening in India where they are reporting over 200,000 cases of positive persons per day, deaths accumulating at a very fast rate, we think that there will be a delay as far as deliveries are concerned,” Kagwe said.