Kenya receives 182,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from France

A vaccine donation by the French government arrives at the JKIA on July 8, 2021. [UNICEF]

Kenya has received another donation of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the French government.  

The 182,400 doses arrived at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) Thursday morning, donated by France through the global Covax scheme.

The consignment was received by the Chair of the National Vaccine Deployment Taskforce Dr Willis Akhwale, French Political Counsellor Emmanuel Dagron and UNICEF Representative Maniza Zaman.

“The Kenya Government is very grateful to the Government of France for this generous donation, which will support our national COVID-19 vaccination campaign. We have recently embarked on vaccinating our people for the second dose, so this comes at a critical time. It will ensure our health workers, teachers and other essential workers are protected, and that our health centres countrywide can continue providing vital care to people affected by COVID-19,” Dr Akhwale said.

UNICEF reiterated that the donation will help the Health Ministry vaccinate priority groups among them health workers, teachers, and persons above 58 years.

According to data from the Ministry of Health, Kenya has so far administered some 1,511, 693 Covid jabs.

Currently, only 1.8 per cent of the adult population is fully vaccinated.

MoH data on vaccine administration as of July 7, 2021. [Health Ministry]