Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has said that Kenya is expecting 150,000 AstraZeneca vaccine from the Democratic Republic of Congo before the vaccines' June expiry date.
Speaking to CNN, CS Kagwe confirmed that the country is on the verge of running out of the vaccine with only about 100,000 AstraZeneca doses left.
Kagwe who appealed to Kenyans who have received their first shot of the vaccine to remain calm blamed the doses shortage on vaccine nationalism.
"Those who have received the first dose should not panic as having the first dose in itself according to medical experts offered protection of up to 70 per cent, ”
“You are better off with a first dose than none at all. We have not heard from anywhere of people dying because they did not get the second dose.”
"As a continent, we must stop believing that there is anybody out there who is a Good Samaritan, a biblical Samaritan who is just about to come and help us. It's everyone for himself or for herself," Kagwe said. "Going into the future, the local production, local manufacturing of pharmaceutical commodities and products is an absolute must."
Many African countries have in the past heavily relied on COVAX which depended on the Serum Institute of India which is the world's leading vaccine manufacturer.
India has since halted the exportation of AstraZeneca Vaccines following a surge in coronavirus cases in the Asian country. The country has announced that it will resume vaccine exportation at the end of 2021
The CS revealed that the country Is expecting 30 million doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine .
So far close to one million Kenyans have been vaccinated against coronavirus.
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