Kenya is set to receive 880,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine from the US government tomorrow morning.
The consignment is scheduled to arrive at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 6.15am. It will be received by Health CS Mutahi Kagwe and US ambassador to Kenya.
Kenya on August 19 received an additional 407,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from the United Kingdom to boost the uptake of Covid-19 vaccines.
While receiving the vaccines at the JKIA, Acting Director-General of Health Dr Patrick Amoth, said the Ministry of Health is targeting to vaccinate at least 10 million Kenyans by year’s end and 26 million by June 2022.
Over two million Kenyans have received at least the first jab.
So far, the UK has donated a total of 817,000 Covid-19 vaccines and Dr Amoth, who was representing Health CS Mutahi Kagwe, said additional vaccines will solve shortage issues besides alleged hesitancy in the uptake of jabs.
Kenya will receive “additional 390,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson and 1.7 million doses of Moderna and 400,000 doses from Canada and Pfizer from the USA by mid-September,” noted Kagwe in his speech read by Amoth.
Salim Ali Hussein, head of the Department of Primary Health Care also said talks are underway to get the Sinovac vaccine from China as they are expected to boost immunity regardless of the coronavirus variants, including the deadly Delta variant.
Meanwhile, the Kenya Medical Association (KMA) has appealed to the government to prioritise vaccination of pregnant women, owing to their vulnerability in the wake of increasing cases of Covid-19.
Doctors are concerned that there has been a steady increase in Covid-19 cases among pregnant women.
“Data has demonstrated that pregnant women are more likely to have severe Covid disease, including the increased risk of Intensive Care Unit admission and death,” said the association’s president Dr Were Onyino.
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