Kenya Receives 1.76 Million of Covid-19 Vaccine Doses
Officials from the national government and the Ministry of Health led by Government Spokesperson Cyrus Oguna on Monday, August 23 received a consignment of 880,460 doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine.
Gathogo Wanjiru 
This is the first shipment of 1.76 million doses of the mRNA Moderna vaccine donated by the United States via the COVAX facility.
Kenya also received 390,000 doses of the much-awaited single-shot Viral Vector Johnson & Johnson vaccine from the African Union (AU).
The Johnson &Johnson vaccine doses are among a cumulative 13 million doses that shall be relayed to the country in several consignments.
The arrival of these consignments is closely followed by the arrival of approximately 1.8 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine in September 2021 as a direct donation to Kenya from the United States.
The two-dose mRNA vaccine which according to scientists has an efficacy level of at least 91% against the Covid-19 virus, shall ship with its unique storage units capable of maintaining temperatures of -70°.
As a result of this genesis, an optimistic Chairman of the Vaccine deployment task force Dr. Willis Akhwale says the goals set by the country to vaccinate 10 million Kenyans by the end of 2021, and 26 million by 2022 are achievable.
“Currently, we are vaccinating about 40,000 individuals per day. We are increasing this to 80,000 per day, adding up to approximately two million in a month. This means that approximately eight million Kenyans will be vaccinated between September and December,” he told K24 Digital.
He says children between 12 and 15 years of age may begin to receive the Pfizer jab, as is currently being practiced in the United States.
“If it is being done in the US, we will also adopt it,” he said.
