NAIROBI, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Kenya has ordered 24 million
doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca
and expects them to start arriving in the second week of
February, its health minister said.
The East African nation of around 47 million people has so
far reported 97,398 cases of COVID-19 and 1,694 deaths. Its
economy is also reeling from pandemic-related disruptions.
Mutahi Kagwe, the health minister, was quoted by the local
Standard newspaper on Thursday as saying the vaccines would
start landing next month.
A public communications official at the ministry told
Reuters the report was accurate.
AstraZeneca and its partner Oxford University tested the
vaccine based on giving recipients two shots each, a few weeks
apart. The minister did not give any information about dosing.
The government has ordered the vaccines through an African
Union initiative aimed at ensuring African nations are not left
behind, Kagwe said. There will also be direct importation of the
shots, he said.
Priority for vaccination will be given to health sector
workers and other essential workers like teachers, the minister
said.
He did not say how much the procurement of the vaccines
would cost the government.
(Reporting by Duncan Miriri. Editing by Mark Potter)