Aga Khan Hospital Runs Out of Government-Supplied COVID-19 Vaccines

The Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi has temporarily suspended the government-supplied COVID-19 vaccination exercise.

The facility said it run out of the free Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine stocks and will resume the vaccination once the Health Ministry supplies more doses.

“We appreciate Kenyans for turning up in large numbers for the free COVID-19 vaccination under the government program. We shall announce the resumption of the exercise once we receive more doses from the Ministry of Health,” the statement reads.

130,575 Kenyans had received the first dose of the vaccine against the virus as of Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Health.

The ministry indicated that 806,000 out of the1.12 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines delivered to the country have been distributed countrywide.

Kenya was seeking to vaccinate at least 50,000 people per day but India’s decision to temporarily suspend all major exports of the AstraZeneca vaccine has put the plan in limbo.

The first Kenyans to receive the jab are scheduled to receive their second doses in May, with Africa Center for Disease Control (CDC) saying a delay in getting the second dose will not affect the efficacy of the vaccine.

“The second dose is a booster. What we are doing is discouraging the mixing of vaccines,” said CDC Africa Deputy Director Ahmed Ogwell.