Currently, Kenya is adding final touches on its Covid-19 vaccine roadmap.
The 11-member vaccine advisory team says that it will formally send its recommendations to President Uhuru Kenyatta over the weekend, and then, they could be made public next week.
The final meeting of stakeholders is currently under way at the country’s Ministry of Health.
The task force is chaired by Dr Willis Akhwale, senior advisor to President Kenyatta on Malaria, who, after deliberations that began in December last year, pledged a solid modus operandi for the deployment of vaccination within the country.
According to The Nation”It should be ready by Monday because after this meeting, we will embark on putting everything that we have deliberated and agreed on together to come up with one solid plan which we will submit to President Kenyatta,”
Kenya’s ministry of health says as the team plans for rollout, it is being proactive by ensuring that as many voices are heard and considered.
“The president and the Health cabinet secretary will be briefed once it’s completed, possibly by the weekend. But those present at this meeting include the WHO, Development partners, groups such as Red cross, Amref and others. MoH team includes the PS, DG and all heads of directorates. The Pharmacy and Poisons Board is also present, ” a source at Kenya’s Ministry of Health said.
Dr. Akwale said last week that the vaccine delivery plan would also be streamed down to the county governments.”We will engage counties, look at all the financial options and availability,” he said.
The taskforce’s key objective is to dissect issues such as vaccine hesitancy, county participation, vaccine depots, cold chain storage, logistics and immunization records, as well as donor interests, among other issues concerning the preparation of Kenya.
This comes after reports suggested that Kenya is set to receive 11 million additional doses of the African Union (AU) Covid-19 vaccine, which has negotiated an agreement for all Member States to procure 270 million of the same.
Educator, writer and legal researcher at Alafarika for Studies and Consultancy.