The Center for Disease Control in Africa has asked the Health ministry to allow the private sector to import Covid-19 vaccines (see P10).
Kenya banned private importation in April after one firm started distribution of the Sputnik vaccine following approval by the Poisons Board. The Health ministry said that the Sputnik vaccine had not been approved by the WHO and protecting the population should not be turned into a profitable business.
Kenya has received around 1.1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine but supplies have dried up because the Indian government blocked the Serum Institute from meeting its export orders.
That's why it makes sense to allow the private sector to import and distribute approved and commercially available Covid vaccines such as Pfizer and Sinopharm. It is nonsense to say profit should be divorced from health - if that was the case, the government should close all private hospitals and health centres in Kenya.
The government should allow the private importation of Covid vaccines. The more doses sold by the private sector, the more doses will be available for the public sector to provide to those who cannot afford to pay.
Quote of the day: "I took up arms for the freedom of my color. It is our own - we will defend it or perish."
Toussaint Louverture
The Haitian revolutionary was born on May 20, 1743
