Kenya has received an additional consignment of 358,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine donated by Canada.
This brings the total donation of vaccines in the country to 3.9 million. This is after Kenya received 3.6 million doses of AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines. Of these, total first doses are 1,968,656 while second doses are 804,583.
So far, the Ministry of Health has administered 2,773,239 doses across the country.
Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary Susan Mochache while receiving the doses at the JKIA said that the additional vaccines will help in accelerating the campaign to fully vaccinate most of the Kenyan population.
Handing over the vaccines to the country, Canadian Ambassador to Kenya David Anthony Da Silva said that Kenya must ensure that the most vulnerable population in the pandemic receives the COVID-19 vaccines.
PS Mochache further reiterated the sentiments by the Health Cabinet Secretary, Mutahi Kagwe, on rogue health officials administering COVID-19 vaccines illegally.
“Following the directive from the Cabinet Secretary, we have so far arrested seven people in line with vaccine malpractice and one hospital has lost its license as a vaccination centre,” she said.
The Government expects an additional 4.1 million doses of vaccines to be shipped in the country in the coming weeks.
About 393, 000 Johnson and Johnson vaccines are expected to arrive in the country on Friday, 3rd September.
Ms. Mochache revealed that the Government’s inclusion of the private sector in the vaccination exercise has seen the Kenya Private Sector Alliance raise about Ksh. 2.7 billion. This amount will be used to purchase 200,000 Johnson and Johnson doses of the vaccine.