Kenya receives second batch of Moderna vaccine

Kenya has received the second batch of the Moderna vaccine.

The 880,000 doses from the US was received at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport today by Health CAS Rashid Aman.

Kenya has received more than five million vaccines in total, the CAS said.

He added that 141,600 doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccines received last week was procured by the government.

“This donation will be of help during this time when we are conducting a robust vaccination campaign in the country,” Dr Aman said.

So far, 2,357,000 Kenyans have received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. More than 800,000 are fully vaccinated.

Dr Aman said, “We expect to attain the 10 million target set by the President by December this year.”

He said when a large number of Kenyans are vaccinated, the country can relax some protocols.

“Full protection only comes after one is fully vaccinated.”

Dr Aman sought to clarify that all vaccines deployed in Kenya are approved by the World Health Organisation.

“No vaccine is superior.”

He said healthcare practitioners will not be emphasising on brand names when Kenyans go out to get the vaccines.

There are three types of vaccines in the country,  AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson.

Dr Aman was with Dr Mark Guterres, the CDC country director, who said the 880,000 donations received today push the total donation of Moderna vaccines to 1.76 million.

“Don't let rumours dissuade you from taking the vaccine,” he said.

The government has also revised the deployment plan and added a number of priority groups. They are people with underlying conditions above 18 years and people living with disability.

Some 200,000 more vaccines will be received this week and 1 million J&J next week.

The Health Ministry’s Covid-19 vaccine taskforce chairman, Dr Willis Akhwale, reiterated that Kenyans should not be fearful that the vaccines will be mixed up. “We have enough Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines,” he said.