The Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) has approved the emergency use of Russian-made COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V in Kenya.
The vaccine, which has a 92 percent efficacy rate, is Kenya’s first private vaccine consignment.
"PBB Kenya has given Emergency Use Authorization to AstraZeneca vaccine and the Sputnik V vaccine after a successful evaluation process. This is not a registration,” PPB said in a statement posted on Twitter on Wednesday.
According to the Board, all aspects of quality, safety and efficacy were considered in reviewing the Sputnik V vaccine before it was concluded that it is wholesomely safe.
However, the vaccine still needs to be included in the National Vaccination Program as the Ministry of Health is yet to decide to use it.
Only persons aged 18 and above are eligible for vaccination and this is according to the clinical data currently available for all COVID-19 vaccines.
The Sputnik V vaccine costs Ksh. 11,000 and it involves two doses which will be administered 21 days apart.
Although skeptics criticized it initially, the vaccine
joins the ranks of proven vaccines such as Pfizer BionTech, Oxford’s AstraZeneca, Moderna and Janssen.
Sputnik V also uses a harmless cold-type virus as a carrier to carry a small fragment of the coronavirus into the body so that the body can recognize a threat and fight the virus without the risk of sickness.
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