- Data from the ministry shows that as at Saturday, a total of 6,622 people had received their second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
- From the number, 4,046 are healthcare workers, 321 are security officers, 445 are teachers, 709 are people aged above 58 years while 1,101 are members of the public.
Image: ANDREW KASUKU
The government will deploy all incoming AstraZeneca vaccine doses towards administering of the second dose.
The Health ministry expects to receive additional doses of the vaccine this and next week, with the latest donation of 358,700 doses coming from the Danish government.
Data from the ministry shows that as at Saturday, a total of 6,622 people had received their second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
From the number, 4,046 are healthcare workers, 321 are security officers, 445 are teachers, 709 are people aged above 58 years while 1,101 are members of the public.
On the other hand, 975,265 people have so far been reached with the vaccine, 166,199 are healthcare workers, 153,089 are teachers, 82,720 are security officers, 295,486 are people aged above 58 years while 277,776 are members of the public.
“Johnson and Johnson is a vaccine that we expect to get perhaps in the next one month and when that happens, we are likely to roll out that one and not keep on struggling for AstraZeneca,” Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said.
“We expect to get quite a bit this week and next week and we are going to use those specifically for the second dose so that we don’t run out and start panicking when you have given people a first and they have no second dose,” he added.
The donations by the Danish government are expected in the country any day this week, a move that is likely to boost the second inoculation exercise that commenced almost two weeks ago.
This is in addition to the 72,000 doses received from South Sudan. The doses from Denmark have a shelf life of until July 31.
“It is my hope that these vaccines will help close part of the vaccine gap Kenya is currently experiencing, and ultimately keep more Kenyans safe,” Danish Ambassador to Kenya Ole Thonke said.
The doses will be delivered by Unicef to the Health ministry before being distributed to regional vaccine stores for further distribution to counties.
“We are doing the second dose with AstraZeneca and it is possible that we are going to continue using AstraZeneca depending on availability across the world. What we are emphasising on now and what we are investing in now, is Johnson and Johnson and this is what we expect,” Kagwe said.
He has however warned Kenyans against being duped into receiving doses from unauthorised facilities at a fee, adding that vaccines in the country are to be administered only by authorised vaccination points and are free of charge.
This is after the DCI launched investigations into reports of facilities cashing in on desperate Kenyans to give the vaccines at a fee, with some claiming to be issuing Covid-19 certificates to facilitate travel out of the country.
“Chances are that you are not even being vaccinated with proper vaccines. There is every possibility that you are even being vaccinated with water and paying for it. I want to warn Kenyans that vaccination in Kenya is free, nobody should be charging you for it,” he said.
Kenya received 1.02 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the Covax facility in March with the second consignment that was expected in the country in April having delayed due to the global supply chain challenges.
-Edited by SKanyara