Kenya has received a donation of 880,460 doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccines in another boost to the ongoing vaccination drive that targets to vaccinate 10 million people by the end of the year. The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is the second vaccine in Kenya’s program after AstraZeneca with at least 1,615,687 people having received at least one dose and 780,377 fully vaccinated by 22nd August, 2021.
Speaking at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport while receiving the donation, Health Principal Secretary Susan Mochache said the development marked an important milestone in Kenya’s COVID-19 vaccination program.
“The shipment is the first of the 3.5 million doses of vaccines to Kenya by the US government which includes today’s donation, a similar number of Moderna doses and a further 1.6 million doses of Pfizer vaccines scheduled to be delivered mid next month. Further I extend my thanks to the governments of the United Kingdom, Denmark, Greece and France who have so far donated a cumulative total of 1,130,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines,” said Mochache.
She added that the government has revised its vaccine deployment plan taking into consideration the availability of multiple vaccines. This is with an aim of vaccinating 150,000 people each day before the end of September.
While noting that the first phase of the vaccination that ended in June was hampered by global vaccines supply, Mochache said the country has made tremendous gains reducing case fatality rates to 2% from 2.1%. The government has also put in place plans to increase vaccination posts from the current 800 to 3000.
Also speaking during the event, US Embassy Charge d’Affaires Eric William Kneedler said the 880,460 doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is the first shipment of 1.76 million doses donated by the United States via COVAX facility.
UNICEF Kenya Country Representative Ms. Maniza Zaman said international solidarity remains critical during the COVID-19 pandemic even as she called on Kenyans to get vaccinated.
In Kenya, only 2.9% of the entire adult population has been vaccinated. The roll out of the national vaccination campaign is being led by the Ministry of Health, with support from WHO, UNICEF, Gavi and other partners.