Kenyans can expect to have the Covid-19 vaccine by February according to Health PS Susan Mochache.
Speaking in Kisii, Mochache explained that in addition to the ongoing trials, the government was in talks with other countries on how to access the vaccines once they are ready for distribution.
She added that a vaccine was being tested by local researchers in collaboration with international experts.
“We are moving on well with the testing of our own vaccination tests and soon, before the end of February, we shall have launched the jab,” she stated during her Worlds Aids Day address.
“We are moving on with the conversation and we are on the right path in drawing up a road map on the administration of the vaccine once it is launched,” PS Mochache added.
Kenya is listed as one of the 192 countries searching for a vaccine under the Covax programme by the World Health Organisation.
President Uhuru Kenyatta had asked the National Emergency Response Committee to expand its mandate to include the vaccine.
The country has already started clinical trials through the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri).
40 frontline healthcare workers from Kilifi were injected with the vaccine with 360 adult volunteers being targeted for the second phase in Mombasa County.
On December 3, the UK became the first country to authorise the rollout of the Pfizer/BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine.
Pfizer announced that a final analysis of the Phase 3 trial of the vaccine shows it was 95% effective in preventing infections, even in older adults, and caused no serious safety concerns.
The announcement means the UK has vaulted past the United States and European Union in the race to approve a vaccine, months into a pandemic that has killed almost 1.5 million people worldwide.
