Dr. Patrick Amoth Makes History as the First Kenyan to Receive COVID-19 Jab

The Health Ministry’s director-general Dr. Patrick Amoth has become the first Kenyan to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Amoth got the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 jab during the official launch of the immunization campaign at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) on Friday.

Dr. Evanson Kamuri, the CEO of KNH was the second person to be vaccinated followed by Dr. Collins Tabu, the head of immunization and vaccine in the Health Ministry.

A total of 10 healthcare workers were inoculated during the exercise that marked the beginning of a national drive to vaccinate Kenyans against the virus.

Speaking during the event, Health Principal Secretary Susan Mochache said the vaccinations will be done in all county referral hospitals around the country beginning Monday.

Speaking on Thursday during the flagging off of the nationwide distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, President Kenyatta said health workers and frontline service providers, including security officers and teachers, will be the first to be vaccinated.

In the first phase of the vaccination drive, the Health Ministry is seeking to immunize 1.25 million people by the end of June.

The second phase targeting about 10 million Kenyans above 50 years, and those above 18 years but with underlying health conditions will run from July 2021 to June 2022. The third phase will see five million Kenyans receive the jab.

Kenya received the first consignment of 1.025 million AstraZeneca doses from the Serum Institute of India on Tuesday night.

The vaccines were brought in as part of the COVAX, a global initiative that was created to ensure that low and middle-income countries have fair access to vaccines.