Kenya to Replace Astrazeneca Covid-19 Vaccine with Johnson & Johnson

The Ministry of Health will not buy the vaccine and will now position the single-dose Johnson & Johnson (J&J) as the primary jab.

Head of the vaccines rollout taskforce Willis Akhwale said Johnson & Johnson will be cheaper for Kenya because it has fewer logistical requirements and will be easy to deploy to remote areas, where vaccination rates are disappointingly low.

He ruled out vaccine mixing, saying those who get Astrazeneca for the first dose must get the same for the second jab.

The government has ordered 13 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson, while the private sector has raised Sh1 billion to buy more doses, Dr. Akhwale said.

“It has a shelf life of up to two years when frozen. We would prefer the lower facilities and hard-to-reach areas to be prioritized for J&J,” Akhwale told journalists in a meeting.

However, Kenya will still continue to receive donated Astrazeneca doses from Europe, which is no longer using that vaccine, and from the Covax facility.

Kenya is hoping to fully vaccinate 10 million adults by December, and a total of 26 million by the end of next year.

However, since the exercise began in March, only 786,340 people have been fully vaccinated with two doses.

Dr. Joseph Sitienei, head of health sector monitoring and evaluation and informatics at the Ministry of Health, described the frustration of reaching adults with two doses, given several weeks apart.

“There are people who disappear after the first jab. Some book on the [Chanjo] platform for the second jab and they don’t show up,” he said.

Dr. Sitienei also oversees the Chanjo system, the Covid-19 registry at the ministry.

“We will now track those who’ve not gone for the second jab with a view to bringing them to get the second jab because one jab is not enough. Otherwise, you won’t be fully protected, which won’t give you the maximum benefits,” he said.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is highly effective against Covid-19 and is widely used in the United Kingdom.

While ruling out mixing of vaccines, the ministry said such a decision should be based on scientific evidence, but, currently, data remains scant.