Vaccinating Africa: Kenya Receives its First Batch of Covid-19 Vaccine via COVAX

Tuesday, 2nd March 2021, just a few minutes before clocking midnight, the first batch of the Oxford/AstraZeneca  Covid-19 Vaccine was offloaded from Qatar Airways Flight QR1341 at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi.

On the venue to receive the vaccine was the Kenyan Health CS Dr Mutahi Kagwe accompanied by UNICEF Representative to Kenya, Maniza Zamana and World Health Organization Representative to Kenya, Rudi Eggers.

“We will be known as the continent of Covid” if Africa doesn’t quickly reach its target of vaccinating 60% of its population of 1.3 billion people, the director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, John Nkengasong, said last week. The continent last month surpassed 100,000 confirmed deaths.

Covax has faced delays related to the severely limited global supply of vaccine doses as well as logistical issues.

And Covax alone will not supply Africa’s 54 countries with the doses needed to reach the 60% population coverage for achieving so-called herd immunity when enough people are protected through infection or vaccination to make it difficult for a virus to continue to spread.

That’s why some countries such as South Africa, the hardest-hit African nation, are also pursuing Covid-19 vaccines via bilateral deals or via the African Union’s bulk-purchasing program.

Despite the various challenges, some health officials expressed jubilation as the first vaccine doses via Covax arrived.

“We have been fighting the pandemic with rubber bullets but what we have acquired today is equivalent, metaphorically speaking, to bazookas and machine guns,” Kenyan Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe said.

Kenya received 1.02 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India. The minister said the vaccines will be administered to some 400,000 medical workers and the rest will go to other front-line workers such as teachers and police officers.

“This first shipment of 1 million vaccines is part of an order of 3.5 million to Kenya,” UNICEF spokesman Andrew Brown told The Associated Press.

Kenya, East Africa’s commercial hub, has more than 106,000 confirmed virus cases including more than 1,800 deaths. Many health workers for months have been disgruntled over the inadequate supply of personal protective equipment. They also say they were never paid the allowances that the government promised them for the extra work and risk while combating Covid-19.

Kenya’s Covid-19 vaccine deployment plan

The vaccine is set to be distributed in Kenya in three phases running from January 2021 to July 2023. The first phase which will target frontline health workers, critical services providers which include teaching and non-teaching staffs in all educational institutions and the uniformed forces will run from January- June 2021.

The second phase which will begin in July 2021 and ends in June 2022 will mainly involve the vaccination of the elderly people in the society, individuals living with chronic diseases and the professionals working in the hospitality and tourism industry.

The third phase of the batch will be for individuals in congregated areas, individuals in care homes, people living in informal settlements which are densely populated, street families, individuals working in care homes, prisons and detention centres and people working in the entertainment, restaurant, retail and banking sector.

As per the health ministry regulations, Nairobi will receive the highest percentage of the vaccine with 138,000 doses followed by Kisumu and Nakuru which will receive 54,000 doses each. Eldoret will be given an amount of 51,000 doses whereas both Mombasa and Kakamega will get 42,000 doses each. Lastly, Garissa and Meru will be allocated a total of 21,000 doses each.

How the vaccines will be distributed all over Kenya

• Eldoret – 51,000 doses
• Kakamega – 42,000 doses
• Kisumu – 54,000 doses
• Nakuru – 54,000 doses
• Nairobi – 138,000 doses
• Meru – 21,000 doses
• Nyeri – 18,000 doses
• Garissa – 21,000 doses
• Mombasa – 42,000 doses

Exemption from the vaccination process

The Health Ministry Principal Secretary, Susan Mochache, on Wednesday warned that the frontline health workers who are allergic to chicken and eggs will not be eligible for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

“There are protocols that have to be followed before one takes the vaccine and if you know that you normally have reactions after taking chicken or eggs, then you should not take up the vaccine,” said Susan Mochache.

She noted that some patients may develop side effects such as anaphylactoid reaction upon receiving the vaccine.

Important facts you need to know about the vaccine

Efficiency

The vaccine is said to have an efficiency rate of about 63.09% against the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Longer dose intervals administered within a range of 8 to 12 weeks can increase the vaccine efficiency to 80%.

At the moment there are no substantial data that are available in relation to the impact of the vaccine on the transmission or prevention of infection and transmission.

Safety of the Vaccine

The Oxford /AstraZeneca vaccine has been tested in clinical trials since the mid of 2020 and the safety results from it have been excellent. The serious side effects of the vaccine are said to be very very rare.

What are the drawbacks and challenges?

In areas where the coverage of public facilities is low, private facilities may be the only option.

Also, the COVID-19 vaccination program will be unprecedented in scale and so the government needs all the help it can get. The government will need to be creative in establishing easily accessible vaccination points so people do not have to go out of their way to get a shot. In addition, once the vaccine becomes widely available, the government may rely on the cold chain and supply chain infrastructure of private facilities to ensure that vaccines reach every corner of the country as fast as possible.

A balance needs to be struck between access and equity. The goal of the COVID-19 vaccination program should be to vaccinate as many people as possible, and as fast as possible. The private sector can contribute to this goal by improving physical access while ensuring financial access. The government has to negotiate with the private sector based on clearly defined roles and expectations, especially around the cost of the shot. These have to be communicated to the general public so that people seek services knowing what to expect.

It would be a shame for people to fail to access the vaccine in public facilities because of distance and inconvenience and fail to access the same in private facilities because of cost.