Kenya will receive the first batch of coronavirus vaccines next week, with healthcare workers, security personnel, teachers, hotel workers and the elderly on the inoculation priority list.
A dispatch from State House yesterday said the first batch of the vaccines would arrive in the first week of March as Kenya races to vaccinate 1.25 million in phase one of the campaign by June.
“The first batch of the country’s Covid-19 vaccines will arrive in Kenya in the first week of March 2021. In that regard Cabinet ratified the distribution framework for the vaccine; with first priority being given to healthcare workers, frontline workers including security personnel and teachers vulnerable persons and groups and hospitality sector,” said the Cabinet dispatch.
The country has recorded a total of 1,847 deaths from Covid-19 and 105,057 confirmed cases. Only a few nations in Africa have begun administering vaccines. Kenya plans to offer the Covid-19 vaccine shots free of charge to its citizens.
The second phase would involve 9.7 million people — comprising those above 50 years and those above 18 with underlying medical conditions — between July and next June.
