U.S. donates 880,460 doses of the Moderna vaccine to Kenya
Kenya received 880,460 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, donated by the United States government, on Monday morning. These are the first Moderna vaccines received by Kenya, a country with just 1.48% of its population fully vaccinated, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins.
This is the first of two shipments – which will total 1.76 million doses of the Moderna shot – transported to Nairobi with help from UNICEF, the U.N.'s humanitarian group for children.
"We are very grateful to the US Government for this generous donation of Moderna vaccines," Ministry of Health Principal Secretary Susan Mochache said in a statement. "This will greatly support the ongoing rollout of Kenya's COVID-19 vaccination campaign and help us reach the target announced by His Excellency President Kenyatta to vaccinate 10 million Kenyans by the end of December 2021."
So far, 780,377 people in Kenya have been full vaccinated. Vaccines are open to all Kenyans over the age of 18, according to UNICEF.
The country has recorded 229,009 COVID-19 cases and 4,497 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins. The country saw a record number of weekly deaths – 203 – between August 1 and August 7, 2021.
Earlier this month, the U.K. donated 407,000 AstraZeneca vaccines to Kenya, bringing the total number of vaccines donated recently to Kenya by the U.K. to 817,000 doses, UNICEF reports.
On August 3, President Joe Biden announced the U.S. had donated and shipped more than 110 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccines to more than 60 countries. The U.S. is the global leader in COVID-19 vaccine donations, the White House says, with more donations than all other countries combined, according to the UN.
The Biden administration's goal is to "increase global COVID-19 vaccination coverage, prepare for surges and prioritize healthcare workers and other vulnerable populations based on public health data and acknowledged best practice, and help our neighbors and other countries in need. Importantly, the United States has not and will not use its vaccines to secure favors from other countries."
"Our aim is to save lives," the White House said in a statement. Indonesia, Colombia, Bangladesh, Philippines, Pakistan and Vietnam have received the highest amounts of donated vaccines from the U.S. as of August 3.
Monday's shipment was the first donation from the U.S. to Kenya.
The vaccines in Kenya arrived through COVAX, an initiative by several global groups including the World Health Organization and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and are part of the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, a global collaboration to accelerate development, production and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments and vaccines.
COVAX's goal is to deliver at least 2 billion doses of vaccine to participating countries around the world in 2021, including Kenya. The U.S. said it will continued to work with COVAX to deliver vaccines.
"This is a unique moment in history, and it requires American leadership, science and ingenuity, perseverance, and we are demonstrating that we can deliver results for people around the world," the White House said.
