Kenya’s vaccine manufacturing plant to cost taxpayers Sh2 billion

 

Health CS Mutahi Kagwe during a press conference at the Ministry of Health headquarters in Nairobi. [David Njaaga, Standard]

The vaccine manufacturing company announced by President Uhuru Kenyatta during the Mashujaa Day celebrations, will cost taxpayers Sh2 billion.

The company named Kenya Biovax Limited in Nairobi’s Embakasi area, will start operations in the next six months as “fill and finish” plant under the Ministry of Health.

Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said during a Presser to clarify on curfew hours that a multi-agency technical team has been working on the project and the Sh2 billion will be used in buying equipment to ensure Kenya, which has been relying on dose donations during the Covid-19 pandemic, is self-reliant

“Given the experience we have had in last one year and the danger of dependency on other countries for vaccines it’s pretty obvious that this is an investment that should have been made a long time ago,” said Kagwe.

“We make animal vaccines but why we don’t human vaccines is a strange phenomenon.”

On how the ministry will ensure the pastoralists community are vaccinated Kagwe said that the counties are in charge of on how their people are vaccinated besides the ministry partnering with Red Cross and AMREF to ensure pastoralists have access to vaccines.

The Acting Director General for Health, Dr Patrick Amoth added that the Ministry of Health was working with World Food Programme and the Ministry of ASAL to ensure vaccinations are also carried out during supply of relief food.

Dr Amoth warned that the Delta variant is still the dominant variant but has “a sub variant…that might disrupt our vaccination programme.”