East Africa country Kenya has ordered an immediate suspension on private importations of vaccines in view of fears that it may lead to counterfeit inoculations getting into the country.
The statement by the National Emergency Response Committee on the coronavirus said Friday evening, reads: “To ensure the transparency and accountability in the vaccination process and to protect the integrity of the country, the government is effective today closing the window of private sector importation, distribution and administration of vaccines, until such a time there is greater transparency and accountability in the entire process,”
Of late, the Kenyan government has been on a sensitization campaign to reduce the reluctant uptake by frontline workers of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccines. Thus far around 160,000 people have been vaccinated in more than a month since just over 1 million doses were received.
Private health facilities have been charging about $80 for the Russian Sputnik Vaccine, while the governments institutions are giving for free AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccines received from the global COVAX initiative that was created to ensure that low- and middle-income countries have fair access to vaccines.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on March 26 after announcing new stricter restriction on movement and assembly due to an upsurge of coronavirus cases and deaths, led his cabinet in getting vaccinated publicly.
Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Union says the reluctance by health care workers was due the fact they were not sensitised enough before the vaccines were brought.
Kenya's government says the country's positivity rate jumped from 2.6 percent at the end of January to 19.1 percent on April 2 after 9,676 people were tested Thursday.
Islamist Attacks on two Somalian Bases, 23 Dead
Myanmar: more than 40 children died in Junta protest
