Government Orders 30 Million Doses of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 Vaccine
As a result of the shortage in the availability of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the government has now placed an order of 30 million Johnson and Johnson doses, which will be delivered within a year.
Gathogo Wanjiru 
The Health CS Mutahi Kagwe has said that the nationalization of the AstraZeneca vaccines by the Indian government has forced 93 countries around the world to look for alternatives elsewhere.
“There are no miracles regarding the AstraZeneca vaccine. We have to live with the current situation as we find alternatives. In any case, we have until July to worry about the second dose,” the CS told the Star last night.
The CS, however, assured those who took the first dose of AstraZeneca jab not to worry about any negative effect saying, “Your immunity against the disease is more than 60 percent meaning that if you get the virus you are likely to suffer fewer symptoms. No one will die because they did not get the second dose”.
Vaccination centers in Kenya gave May dates for the second doses of AstraZeneca after eight weeks and the government revised that to June to cater for delays in supply. However, even that 12-week window is now in doubt.
Indian AstraZeneca vaccine manufacturer, the Serum Institute has said it can no longer give commitments for supply.
Therefore, the one million Kenyans who received the first doses will wait more than 12 weeks to receive their final doses.
Scientists still do not know what this means to their immunity of a person.
India has banned all vaccine exports due to its Covid-19 variant that is ravaging the country.
