Kenya has received 880,460 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in renewed efforts to inoculate a large percentage of Kenyans who are yet to receive the crucial jab.
The vaccine that arrived in the country on Monday morning was donated by the United States government through the COVAX facility and transported by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
This is the first shipment of 1.76 million doses donation. It’s also the first time that Moderna vaccines have been received in Kenya.
The shipment was received at the Jomo Kenyatta International Aiport (JKIA) in Nairobi by officials from the Ministry of Health including Chief Administrative Secretary Dr. Mercy Mwangangi, Principal Secretary Susan Mochache, acting Director General Dr. Patrick Amoth, as well as COVID-19 vaccine taskforce Chairman Dr. Willis Akhwale.
Read: Covid-19 Infection Rate Down To 10 Percent As 646 Test Postive
Other officials present were US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Eric Kneedler, UNICEF Representative to Kenya Maniza Zaman and World Health Organization (WHO) Officer in Charge, and Health System Cluster Lead Dr Mona Almudhwahi.
“We are very grateful to the U.S government for this generous donation of Moderna vaccines.This will greatly support the ongoing roll-out of Kenya’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign and help us reach the target announced by President Uhuru Kenyatta to vaccinate 10 million Kenyans by the end of December 2021,” said PS Mochache.
The PS added, “Vaccination is now open to all Kenyans over the age of 18. I would like to emphasise that all WHO and Government of Kenya approved vaccines, including the AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines, are safe and effective. Members of the public will receive available vaccines at the health centre they visit, upon registration in the Chanjo System, Portal.health.go.ke.”
Read Also: Kenya to Receive 407,000 More Doses of Covid-19 Vaccine from the UK Tuesday
So far, Kenya has administered 2,396,064 vaccines in total. Of these, the total first doses are 1,615,687 while the second doses are 780,377.
The uptake of the second dose of AstraZeneca vaccine among those who received their first dose is at 48.3% with the majority being males at 55% while females are at 45%.
The proportion of adults fully vaccinated is 2.9%.
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