Kenyan medics get Sh32 million worth of medical supplies

Besides the 250,000 surgical masks, 13,900 K95 face masks, 5,000 face goggles and 4, 200 isolation gowns, Kenya also received 10 units of oxygen concentrators and 1,500 units of laboratory reagents and 39,500 swabs. [Courtesy]

Kenya has received medical equipment worth Sh32 million to boost fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

The materials including surgical masks, goggles and isolations gowns were donated by the World Health Organization (WHO) with the support of the European Union ECHO Fund.

Health Permanent Secretary, Susan Mochache, lauded the technical and material support as “the socio-economic impact of the pandemic calls for sustained collaboration between governments and partners.”

Besides the 250,000 surgical masks, 13,900 K95 face masks, 5,000 face goggles and 4, 200 isolation gowns, Kenya also received 10 units of oxygen concentrators and 1,500 units of laboratory reagents and 39,500 swabs which according to Mochache, “will ensure our health workers are properly geared and protected while providing services to the people.”

WHO has so far donated equipment and PPEs worth over Sh100 million in four tranches since December 2020.

This donation comes in the wake of the fourth wave of the pandemic with an average of 12.8 positivity rate, where a total of 1,258 new cases were recorded in the last 24 hours from 9,868 samples tested.

The Ministry also recorded 36 deaths in July and August, bringing the total number of fatalities to 4,600.

Earlier this week, Kenya also received over 800,000 doses of Moderna vaccine from the US through the COVAX facility a few days after receiving another batch of 407,000 doses of Astra Zeneca from the United Kingdom to boost uptake of vaccines.

Also in the pipeline are donations of Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Sinopharm vaccines which will be distributed to 3,000 vaccination spots across Kenya.

Speaking in a different forum, the Covid-19 Vaccine Taskforce chair Dr Willis Akhwale reiterated the need for Kenyans to receive one type of vaccine under the recommended dosage, as WHO has not authorized the mixing of the vaccines.

“A person cannot receive AstraZeneca as the first dose and still get Moderna as the second dose, so if you receive, Moderna, make sure your second dose is Moderna,” he explained.

Kenyans have been encouraged to register at the Chanjo online platform before visiting the vaccination posts to avoid congestion with the fear of the further spread of the virus.

Kenya targets to vaccinate about 10 million people by this December and 26 million by June next year to acquire the necessary herd immunity.