A resident receives a shot of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, March 5, 2021. Kenya's health ministry on Friday kicked off COVID-19 vaccination campaign with frontline health workers as the first to receive the vaccine. (Photo by Joy Nabukewa/Xinhua)
NAIROBI, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's health ministry on Friday kicked off COVID-19 vaccination campaign with frontline health workers as the first to receive the vaccine.
Susan Mochache, principal secretary, Ministry of Health told journalists in Nairobi that the high demand for vaccines globally means that Kenya will adopt a phased approach in its deployment.
"The current phase will target health workers across the country who have worked tirelessly for the past one year by being our first line of defense against COVID-19," Mochache said.
The vaccination campaign will commence immediately in all the 47 county referral hospitals. The east African nation on Tuesday received 1.02 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
Mochache noted that the vaccination exercise will employ a data management and reporting electronic vaccine registry.
Patrick Amoth, acting director general of health who was the first to receive the jab, said that the reason for starting the vaccine program with health workers is that they have a high risk of exposure to COVID-19. He observed that the government has put in place measures to ensure there is adequate pharmacovigilance.
He said that Kenya has introduced ten new vaccines in the past ten years.
"We have a degree of comfort that our health workers have the skills and expertise to administer and ensure the protection for all Kenya," Amoth said. Enditem
