Kenya Receives Over 800,000 Doses of Moderna Covid-19 Vaccine Donated by the US

On Monday morning, August 23, 2021, Kenya received  880,460 doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine donated by the United States of America government through the COVAX facility.

The doses received today mark the first consignment of about 1.76 million doses that the US government donated to Kenya.

The doses were received at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) by officials from the Ministry of Health led by Chief Administrative Secretary Dr. Mercy Mwangangi, Principal Secretary Susan Mochache, acting Director-General Dr. Patrick Amoth, They were accompanied by Covid-19 vaccine taskforce Chairman Dr. Willis Akhwale.

Health PS addresses the media after receiving 880,460 doses of Moderna Covid-19 vaccine donated to Kenya by the US at JKIA on August 23, 2021. |Courtesy| Twitter|

Also present were; Interim US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires, 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 Kenyatta to vaccinate 10 million Kenyans by the end of December 2021,” PS Mochache stated.

“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," she added.

Mochache stated that Moderna becomes the second vaccine approved by the government after AstraZeneca, announcing that Pfizer vaccines are expected in the country in September.

The PS revealed that the consignment is part of the 3.6 million doses donated to Kenya so far. She, however, noted that members of the public will not chose which vaccine to get, rather, will be vaccinated with what is available.

“We shall increase vaccination posts from 800 to 3000 in counties. We have received freezers with the capacity for 3 million doses, we will be receiving 15 freezers from American firm UPS to receive the Pfizer vaccine.

“We will deploy 1 vaccine to a centre, we do not want to have cross mix of a vaccine. No vaccine is superior to the other when it comes to prevention of severe disease and death. Do not wait for a particular brand of the vaccine," the PS said.

“Counties like Nairobi will get the vaccine as soon as today evening or tomorrow morning. A facility will have 1 type of vaccine, except the high volume facilities like Kenyatta and Mbagathi that can have 2 types," she added.

According to the Ministry of Health, the Moderna vaccine is administered two intramuscular injections one month or 28 days apart.