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Kenya: Private Sector Raises Sh1 Billion for Covid-19 Vaccines Procurement

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Nairobi — The Government said Wednesday it had signed an agreement with the private sector on the importation and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and so far, Sh1 billion has been deposited at the Central Bank of Kenya by the sector.

COVID-19 Vaccine Taskforce Chairperson Willis Akhwale said the government will undertake the procurement of the vaccine with emphasis on Johnson and Johnson.

“The government will be the one to facilitate the procurement of the vaccines on behalf of the private sector. The funds are deposited in an account within CBK and we are now ready to facilitate the procurement of doses of Johnson and Johnson,” he said.

Akhwale reiterated that no private entity will be allowed to directly procure COVID-19 vaccines.

“During the pandemic, there will be no sale of COVID-19 vaccines. The only importer and distributer of the vaccines is the government of Kenya. When the vaccines come, they will go to our Kitengela warehouse then we will ask the private sector to plan for a vaccination exercise for their employees,” Akhwale said.

He said the sector has promised to facilitate vaccination of other people beyond their employees in the community.

Kenya banned the importation, distribution and administration of COVID-19 vaccines by private enterprises in April following the publicity that was received by Russia’s Sputnik V which was rolled out for a few weeks in the country.

On Monday, Kenya received the first batch of 880,460 doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine from the United States government, the first time the vaccine was received in the country.

The Health Ministry said this is part of the 1.76 million doses donated by the US government through the COVAX facility.

The Moderna doses are set to boost the ongoing nationwide vaccination exercise, supporting the government’s quest to get at least 10 million adult population vaccinated by December 25.

The vaccines were received by Health Principal Secretary Susan Mochache who announced the increase of vaccination centres from the current 800 to 3,000 to offer one specific type of vaccine.

“We plan to allocate one vaccine type to each vaccination post. We do not want to have a cross mix of vaccines within facilities so that those designated to offer Pfizer will offer Pfizer, those designated to offer Moderna or AstraZeneca will do so. This will enable people to choose which post to be vaccinated at,” Mochache said.