Why Kenyans Will Not Have the Option to Choose Which Vaccine to Take

Kenyans will not have the option to choose which vaccine to take, despite the country receiving vaccines from different manufacturers.

Speaking in an interview, the Ministry of Health's National Covid-19 Vaccines Taskforce Chairman Dr Willis Akhwale said Kenyans will have the vaccine that will be available in the hospitals where they will have booked.

He went on to state that the vaccines have almost the same efficacy.

"Our principle in Kenya is that what we are administering is a Covid vaccine. All these vaccines are the same. when it comes to their efficacy and you look at how they prevent severe disease and death, they are all the same. In clinical trials they were almost 100% and currently they are ranging 92-96%.

For us as part of our deployment plan which we have just finalized revising, when you book to go to a facility, you will be given the vaccine that is there you are not going to choose," said Dr Akhwale.

He, however, mentioned that hospitals with high numbers like Kenyatta and Mbagathi might have the two types of vaccines available but smaller facilities will only have one type of vaccine.

"In High volume facilities like Kenyatta and Mbagathi, we may be able to administer two vaccines but in lower volume facilities there will be only one vaccine available and be assure that all WHO approved vaccines are the same," he said on Citizen TV.

Kenya has so far received vaccines from AstraZeneca and Moderna Covid-19 Vaccines.

Kenya received the first batch of 880,460 doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine donated by the United States of America government through the COVAX facility.

The doses received are 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.