Kenya will be receiving the first batch of Pfizer vaccines on Friday with another consignment of Sinopharm also expected to arrive in the country a day later.
The consignment of one million doses will be part of the 2.03 million doses donations by the US government as part of the effort to boost Covid-19 vaccination in the country.
Kenya received 12 ultra-cold chain freezers from the Japan International Cooperation Agency and 15 softboxes from the UPS Foundation as part of the preparations for the eventual rollout.
The freezers have a storage capacity of three million doses.
Pfizer needs to be stored at extremely cold temperatures of minus 70 degrees Celsius. With the freezers, the shelf life of the vaccines can be guaranteed for six months.
The specialty shippers can hold up to five "pizza box" trays of vials and be refreshed with dry ice every five days for up to 15 days to keep the vaccine at the right frozen temperature.
The arrival of the two types will bring to five the total number of vaccines being deployed in the country by next week.
“We are getting a lot of vaccine doses now, and things are going up to our projection. Sharing of doses by the European Union has been a major source of our vaccines,” Vaccines deployment taskforce chairman Dr Willis Akhwale said.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said the government will be expanding the vaccination programme to include Kenyans aged 18 years but with pre-existing medical conditions as they are vulnerable and at risk of severe disease.
“We were at 58 years, we have now lowered that age to 50 years of age but we have also opened up for persons even at 18 years old who have got comorbidities, persons who are disabled and persons who have got challenges,” Kagwe said.
“Currently we are not vaccinating children essentially because the data that we have is such that the most exposed persons are still in the category that I am saying. Most deaths in the country are above 50, particularly, the 58 years old. We are talking about 80 per cent of the deaths being in that category,” he added.
Pfizer vaccine is among the five types of vaccines that have been authorised for use in the country alongside Moderna, Johnson and Johnson, AstraZeneca and Sinopharm.
Pfizer needs to be stored at temperatures of minus 70 degrees Celsius. With freezers, the shelf life of the vaccines can be guaranteed for six months.
From the regional stores, the vaccines will be transported to selected vaccination posts at temperatures of two to eight degrees Celsius, as is common with other vaccines.
According to the ministry, the UPS Foundation will manage the transportation from the central store in Kitengela to the regional stores using the softboxes.
