Deputy President William Ruto and his wife Rachel Ruto, have received the Covid-19 vaccine jab at their residence in Karen, Nairobi.
The DP encouraged Kenyans to participate in the exercise in order to prevent themselves from the pandemic.
“COVID-19 vaccines are our safe and effective tools in saving lives and managing the disease,” he said in a statement.
The DP was vaccinated with the same health worker that had vaccinated two prominent lawyers - Ahmednasir Abdullahi and Donald Kipkorir - with Sputnik V vaccine earlier in the day.
Lawyer Ahmednasir made good his promise to become the first person in Kenya to publicly receive the Sputnik V jab.
The duo posted photos on their respective social media platforms of them getting vaccinated at what looked like the same location and by the same health worker.
“Today, I became the second Kenyan to take the Russian Covid-19 Sputnik V vaccine. I have full confidence in the vaccine to protect me from all Covid-19 variants," Kipkorir tweeted.
Last week, Health CAS Dr Mercy Mwangangi warned that Sputnik vaccine was not yet authorized to be administered on Kenyans.
On Monday March 29, the Russian embassy in Nairobi distanced itself from dispatching the Covid-19 Sputnik V vaccine.
The decision by DP Ruto to opt for the Sputnik V vaccine might be interpreted as a vote-of-no-confidence in the government-fronted AstraZeneca jab, which is being administered in public and private health facilities across the country for free.
The Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine jab costs between Sh8,000 and Sh11,000.
Speaking to Radio Citizen on Thursday, March 25, Ruto expressed the will to receive the Covid jab if the opportunity arises.
He pointed out that it would not be in order for him to receive the jab while a medical worker who is much more exposed to the virus has not been inoculated.
During the same interview, he assured Kenyans to take the vaccine if they get an opportunity to.
On Friday, March 26, President Uhuru Kenyatta and First Lady Margaret Kenyatta have received their first dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccination at State House, Nairobi.
In a televised exercise, the first family, alongside Cabinet Secretaries including Interior’s Fred Matiang'i and his Health Counterpart Mutahi Kagwe were vaccinated with the hope of encouraging public uptake.
During the vaccination drive, the President announced that the elderly who fall under the age bracket of 58-years-old and above were to be prioritised in the ongoing phase one of the Covid-19 inoculation drive.
Initially, the aged were to be vaccinated during the second face but according to statistics by the Ministry of Health, the decision to include the aged in phase one was arrived at after data showed that people in this age bracket are at most risk of severe disease and account for 60 percent of the deaths recorded in the country.
On Wednesday, March 24, the Ministry of Health announced that 64,100 people had so far been vaccinated since the arrival of the one million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on March 3, 2021.
