The government will start administering the Covid-19 vaccine in the first quarter of 2021.
Acting Director-General Public Health Patrick Amoth on Friday said the government has singled out one vaccine that has attained all the trial parameters set.
Amoth said the AstraZeneca vaccine is already registered for use and that the country was part to its clinical trials in the Kilifi Wellcome Trust Research Programme.
Speaking during the daily national address by the Ministry of health at Kenol town in Murang'a county, Amoth said the vaccine has shown good efficacy and will be one of the frontline vaccines that will be used in the country.
“We are watching for safety, immunogenicity, efficacy and the role of the vaccine in preventing the disease,” he said.
He further pointed out that the country is set to receive 24 million doses of the vaccine under the Covax facility to which Kenya is a signatory.
The facility brings together over 189 countries in search of one common vaccine.
“The kind of vaccine that we are looking for will have four parameters. It should be a vector carrier, WHO pre-qualified, cost-effective and one that fits within our existing cooling system of 2 to 8 degrees," he said.
The AstraZeneca vaccine he said has fulfilled all the parameters except the WHO pre-qualification.
The government will then invest Sh10 billion to buy additional 12 million doses that will cover 10 per cent of the population.
The beneficiaries of the vaccine will be the 430,000 frontline health workers, in both public and private facilities representing one per cent of the total population.
The second cluster of beneficiaries will be those over 50 years old who tend to contract the more severe form of the disease and are about 5.3 million an equivalent of 10 per cent of the general population.
The government will also prioritise about 4.4 million Kenyans with pre-existing conditions who represent 8 per cent of the population.
About 830,000 Teachers and uniformed security forces will then be considered, bringing the total figure of the initial vaccinations to about 21 per cent.
The director-general, however, reiterated that Kenyans will have to continue to observe the containment protocols issued by the government to avoid contracting the disease.
“I want to reiterate that the vaccine is not a silver bullet because there is no way we can be able to immunize 49 million Kenyans in one go. It is imperative that we continue avoiding crowded and close contacts, and wear masks at all times,” he said.
He further appealed to Kenyans to avoid traveling using the public service transport system if not necessary and ensure they have sufficient PPEs when they do.
“The vaccine is good progress. Historically, the shortest period it has taken the world to develop a vaccine is 4 years but the global scientific community has developed the vaccine in 9 months,” he said.