More doses to combat Covid-19: Kenya receives 407,000 doses of AstraZeneca

Acting Director-General of Health Dr Patrick Amoth and UK Deputy High Commissioner to Kenya Julius Court display a document after receiving the 407,000 doses of the Astrazeneca, as UNICEF Kenya’s Chief of Health Dr. Yaron Wolman among other government officials looks on. PHOTO/Courtesy.

At least 754,542 people have received their second doses by close Tuesday.

In the quest to vaccinate her entire adult population, Kenya has  received a further 407,000 doses of the Astrazeneca.

The Covid-19 vaccines that arrived in the country on Tuesday night and were received by the Acting Director-General of Health Dr Patrick Amoth.

Speaking at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport while receiving the donation, Dr. Amoth said the latest consignment will boost the ongoing vaccination drive even as he thanked the UK government, WHO, UNICEF and partners who are helping in the vaccine deployment plan.

“The Ministry of Health has now received a total of 817,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine as a contribution of the British government in Kenya’s fight against Covid-19,” said Amoth.

The vaccines, donated by the UK government, are expected to boost the ongoing vaccination campaign that has seen 2,101,403 people receive at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

He said the country is expecting to receive 1.7 million doses of Moderna soon, 393,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine in the next few weeks and 1.8 million doses of Pfizer vaccine in September this year.

Speaking during the event, UK deputy High Commissioner to Kenya Julius Court said the donation was a testament to the cordial relations between Kenya and the United Kingdom.

“I’m delighted that the second shipment of our total donation of 817,000 COVID-19 vaccines has arrived in Kenya. 
We need to keep working together to protect ourselves and our families, and the best way to do that is through the vaccine,” observed Court.

UNICEF Kenya’s Chief of Health Dr. Yaron Wolman said the vaccines will help boost the country’s vaccination efforts at a time it is battling a surge in infections.

“No one is safe until everyone is safe, especially with new and more infectious variants of the virus emerging. Vaccine equity is essential to ensure that everyone at risk from Covid-19 gets vaccinated wherever they are,” said Wolman.

The UK government had donated another 410,000 doses to Kenya on 31st July this year following President Uhuru Kenyatta’s recent tour to the United Kingdom.

The latest consignment has raised the number of vaccines received in the country to 2,730,100 with  the proportion of adults fully vaccinated now stands at 2.8 percent.

The first vaccination began on 5th March 2021 with county vaccinations kicking off on 8th of March 2021. The second dose of vaccination began on 28th May 2021.

The government is conducting the vaccination free of charge and is aiming to vaccinate at least 10 million adults by the end of the year.

Related story Hope for more Covid-19 vaccines for Kenyans

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