NAIROBI, Jan 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Kenya said it was seeking an extra 11 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, on top of 24 million already ordered, and hopes to have 16 million people inoculated by June next year.
The extra doses are to be sourced from major pharmaceutical manufacturers like Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.
The East African nation of more than 50 million people aims to vaccinate 1.25 million in phase one of the campaign by June this year, senior health ministry official Mercy Mwangangi told reporters. This would cover health and care-home workers as well as security and immigration personnel.
The objective is to vaccinate 16 million against COVID-19 by June next year, she told a news conference. “If more vaccines become available … then this target may change.”
Mwangangi said the second phase would target 9.7 million people, those above 50 years old and those above 18 years old with underlying medical conditions, running between July this year and June next year.
The third phase, to unfold concurrently with the second, will target 4.9 million people including those living in congested areas and seen as particularly vulnerable, she said.
Mwangangi said that Kenya plans to offer COVID-19 vaccine shots free of charge to its citizens.
As wealthier nations race ahead with mass immunisation campaigns, Africa is scrambling to obtain supplies for its 1.3 billion people. Only a few nations on the widely impoverished continent have begun administering vaccines.
On Thursday, the African Union said it had secured another 400 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine as part of its push to immunise 60per cent of the continent’s population over a three-year period. — NNN-AGENCIES
