Kenya has received a further 990,990 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in yet another boost to the ongoing accelerated COVID-19 vaccination drive. The doses are a donation from the US government.
Present to receive the consignment were Ministry of Health CAS Dr. Mercy Mwangangi, US Embassy Representative Ricardo Echalar, USAID Country Director Mark Meassick, Dr. Joyce Onsongo of the Disease Prevention and Control at WHO Kenya and other officials from the Ministry of Health.
Speaking while receiving the vaccine doses, Health CAS Dr. Mercy Mwangangi said the consignment was the first of over 5 million doses of various types of vaccines expected from the US between now and December this year. The expected vaccines comprise of Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson.
Dr. Mwangangi added that the donated doses will be transported immediately to 5 of the country’s 9 regional stores which are already equipped with Ultra cold chain storage freezers. The stores are the Kitengela Central Vaccine Stores, Kakamega Regional Stores, Kisumu Regional stores, Meru Regional stores and the Mombasa Regional stores.
“From the regional stores, these vaccines will be transported to selected vaccination posts at temperatures of 2 to 8 degrees as is common with other vaccines,” said Dr. Mwangangi.
She further stated that the Government has set aside funds for procurement of vaccines through the AVAT mechanism even as it continues to receive donations from international partners.
As of October 28 2021, a total of 5,226,128 vaccines had been administered across the country with the number of those partially vaccinated standing at 3,642,163 while those fully vaccinated were 1,583,965.
The government targets to have vaccinated 10 million people by end of December 2021, out of a targeted population of 27,246,033.
The first phase of vaccination began on 5th March, 2021 with county vaccinations kicking off on 8th of March 2021. The second dose vaccination began on 28th May, 2021.
The national vaccination campaign is being led by the Ministry of Health, with support from WHO, UNICEF, Gavi and other partners.