Health CAS Dr. Mercy Mwangangi on Tuesday, August 11, announced that Kenya was in the process of reaching out to Russia in a bid to access the newly registered Covid-19 vaccine.
Speaking during a press briefing, Dr. Mwangangi announced that the Ministry was aware of the latest vaccine developments emanating from Russia.
"Yes we've seen the reports. Through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we shall engage Russia to find out what specific vaccine has been deployed and whether it is working. If it should be necessary, we'll plug into the Russian vaccine via the laid down protocols and regulations on how we can access it," she stated.
She lauded Kenyan scientists currently working on a vaccine as well, and revealed that they were currently in the second phase of development.
Russian Vaccine
Earlier in the day, Russia grabbed the global headlines when it announced that President Vladimir Putin had approved and registered the world's first coronavirus vaccine.
"A vaccine against coronavirus has been registered for the first time in the world this morning. I know that it works quite effectively, it forms a stable immunity," President Putin said on Russian state TV.
Dubbed Sputnik-V (in reference to the Soviet Union's launch of the world's first satellite in 1957), the vaccine was developed by the Gamaleya Institute based in Moscow.
During his announcement, the Russian President revealed that one of his daughters had already received vaccination. He added that after an initial bout of rising body temperature, "Now she feels well."
However, Russia is yet to publicize any scientific data on the results attained during the mandatory testing phase involved during vaccine development.
The European powerhouse is one of many countries working tirelessly towards a vaccine for Covid-19.
Covid-19 Status
To date, the deadly virus has infected over 20 million people globally and claimed the lives of over 730,000.
In Kenya, the latest Covid-19 update revealed the total tally of confirmed cases currently stands at 27,425, with 438 fatalities and 13,857 recorded recoveries.
CAS Mwangangi stated that the team of Kenyan scientists would liaise with their Russian counterparts, to ensure that any vaccine administered to the public had undergone all the mandatory protocols.
