Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has said that the government is pursuing the acquisition of two million doses of vaccines from Pfizer as well as Johnson & Johnson to supplement the AstraZeneca vaccines.
While receiving a donation of PPEs worth Ksh 2.3 million from MultiChoice Kenya Kagwe noted that the vaccines must pass World Health Organization approval as well as the country’s stringent rules in order to be distributed in the country.
This comes as the ministry of health has alarmed a spike in covid-19 cases in counties outside those under lockdown.
The ministry of health daily situational report has listed counties recording a spike among them Nyeri, Murang’a and Uasin Gishu Counties.
The report has also flagged down the counties of Nairobi and Mombasa with the highest attack rates.
CS Mutahi Kagwe urged the county response teams to enhance containment measures in the counties to control the rise in numbers.
He stated that under the African Union facility, which Kenya has yet to use, they have negotiated rates with manufacturers so that the country can obtain the vaccines at a reduced cost.
According to the CS, the government prohibited the private sector from participating in vaccines due to the confusion it would cause, as well as the risk of some people taking advantage of the situation and selling the doses to Kenyans while they are free.
He noted that the supply chain had made acquiring more vaccines for the country more difficult, but that the government was working tirelessly to ensure that stocks did not run out.
Kagwe noted that Africa had expected to receive 75 million doses through the Covax facility, but only 12 million had been delivered so far.
The CS stated that India, the manufacturer of the Astrazeneca vaccines, was experiencing difficulties, with over 200,000 cases of COVID-19 being recorded daily.
He stated that it was for this reason that India had slowed the supply of Astrazeneca in order to address the issue in their country.