Kenya to receive 880,000 doses of Moderna vaccine from the US on Monday » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 22 – Kenya is on Monday set to receive 880,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine from the United States government, the Ministry of Health revealed on Sunday.

This is the first time the Moderna vaccine is being availed in the country since national vaccination campaign began in March.

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 donation comes at a time when the country is battling a surge in infections, with over 10 per cent positivity rate being reported.

“The consignment is scheduled to arrive at JKIA at 6.15am. Health CS Mutahi Kagwe and the US ambassador to Kenya will receive them,” the ministry indicated.

The British government has so far donated 817,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to support the ongoing exercise, a donation which came after President Uhuru Kenyatta’s visit visit to the United Kingdom in July.

The government is availing the vaccines for free in various health facilities countrywide in the national vaccination campaign is being led by the Ministry of Health, with support from WHO, UNICEF, Gavi and other partners.

To date a total of 2,374,197 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered across the country, including 1,595,335 first doses and 778,862 second doses.

The second dose vaccination began on May 28. Approximately 2.9 per cent of the adult population has since been fully vaccinated.

According to the Ministry of Health, another consignment of 393,000 doses of Johnson and Johnson  vaccine is expected to arrive in the next few weeks and 1.8 million doses of Pfizer vaccine in September.