Kenya to vaccinate 26M adults by June 2022 as it orders Johnson & Johnson vaccines

President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced plans to vaccinate the entire Kenyan adult population of 26 million people by mid-2022 with 10 million set to be vaccinated by December of this year.

The President says this plan is different from the one the government had at the beginning of the year thanks to the purchase of 13 million doses of the single-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccines which arrive in August.

“Our strategy was to vaccinate 10 million adults by June 2022 and approximately 16 million by June 2023,” announced the head of state.

“Instead of vaccinating 10 million adults by June 2022, we will vaccinate the entire adult population of 26 million Kenyans by 2022. In fact, by Christmas this year, we intend to have vaccinated over 10 million adults.”

Mr. Kenyatta says the country will be vaccinating 150,000 people every day from August 2021 adding that this will help in the quest for ‘Herd Immunity’ against Covid-19.

At the same time, Mr. Kenyatta said that if a vaccine for those under 18 years is approved by early 2022, Kenya will end up vaccinating a total of 30 million people.

“If a vaccine for under-age populations is registered by early next year, we intend to vaccinate an extra 4 million young adults by June 2022 with a vaccinated population of 30 million people,” said Mr. Kenyatta.

“Because the Johnson and Johnson vaccine is administered using a single shot, the speed of rolling out our vaccination programme will be accelerated.”

The Head of State announced that Kenya had managed to get a good bargain in the purchase of the vaccines.

“In the process of negotiating with this company, we managed to get a lower price,” he said. “For the price of 10 million vaccines, we have negotiated for them to deliver 13 million vaccines.”

At the same time, President Kenyatta announced a plan to set up a Human Vaccine Centre in Kenya to elevate the country as a producer for both human and veterinary vaccines.

“Our long-term strategy is to set up a Human Vaccine Centre. I have directed a multi-agency Team to activate this plan and to focus not only on the COVID-19 Vaccine, but on any other human vaccine needed in our region,” said Mr. Kenyatta.

“The national quest to produce human vaccines here in Kenya will elevate our nation as a producer for both human and veterinary vaccines that we currently supply to Eastern Africa, all the way to Morocco in North Africa.”