Two million Pfizer vaccine doses expected in September - MoH

The Ministry of Health has said that the country will receive two million doses of Pfizer vaccine next month.

The consignment will be a donation from the US government, and its arrival will boost the fight against the coronavirus in the country.

It will also enhance the government’s plan to vaccinate at least 10 million people before the end of this year.

Dr Willis Akhwale, the chairperson of the task force on vaccine deployment, said on Thursday that 390,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will also arrive next month.

“The country is expecting two million doses of Pfizer vaccines, 390,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, at least 700,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, 2,000,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine and an additional 880,000 doses of Moderna vaccine in September,” Akhwale said.

Akhwale has urged Kenyans to get vaccinated, adding that all vaccines will be fairly deployed across the country to ensure equity.

The ministry is also expecting to receive 13 million doses of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

On Monday, Kenya received a batch of 880,460 Moderna vaccines.

The vaccines were donated through the Covax facility and transported by Unicef.

The vaccines were received by officials from the Kenyan Government led by Health PS Susan Mochache and CAS Dr Mercy Mwangangi.

The vaccines which form the first batch of the two shipments are expected to total 1.76 million doses from the US government arrived at JKIA.

It was the first time that Moderna vaccines have been received in Kenya.

By August 24, the ministry had administered 2,585,664 vaccines across the country, out of which, total first doses were 1,794,369 while second doses were 791,295.

The ministry also said that it is well prepared in terms of storage of the doses and distribution.

On Monday, the country received 12 ultra-low temperature freezers of -70 degrees centigrade from JICA with a storage capacity of three million doses.

The ministry added that 15 portable freezers are expected from the UPS foundation that will be used to transport the vaccines at the required temperatures.

Edited by CM