Kagwe: My remarks on Covid vaccine were misunderstood

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has come out to defend his comments on the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine after a video clip captured him expressing reservations on its efficacy. The CS now says his comments were taken out of context.

In a statement issued hours after the NTV video clip went viral amid a heavy backlash triggered by his remarks, Mr Kagwe said his remarks were in line with the doubts that have been publicly cast by global experts on the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines.

“My attention has been drawn to a short video clip from an internal broad discussion about vaccines in which I appear to be sceptical about the efficacy of vaccines and how they work. This clip has been taken out of context as it was specifically directed at reports of Pfizer developing a vaccine that is reported to be 95 per cent effective; this response is driven by the reaction of top medics and, if well guided, perhaps we all should share in it,” said CS Kagwe.

He further said that Kenya will not spend money on a yet-to-be scientifically proven vaccine and it should instead wait for globally and scientifically acceptable vaccines.

He said the Ministry of Health is monitoring several other vaccine candidates which are still in advanced clinical trial stages.

“For the avoidance of doubt, my ministry considers vaccination and or immunisation to be our core part of efforts for preventing diseases for which vaccines are available,” Mr Kagwe said.

Many doubts

In the viral clip, the CS was captured while delivering a status report to the Senate on the fight against Covid-19 in the country, saying he has “many doubts” about how the Pfizer-developed vaccine will combat the virus.

“Yesterday, Pfizer said there is a vaccine but, personally, to tell you the truth, I’ve got my many doubts about it. They were talking about a disease that stops people from getting the virus. I would like to know how they knew in the first place that I was going to get the virus. When I have the virus and it goes down I can understand the major, but when you tell me that I stopped you from getting the virus, how do you know I was going to get the virus in the first place? I have got my reservations,” said CS Kagwe.

On Monday, Pfizer said its experimental vaccine is more than 90 per cent effective in preventing Covid-19 based on initial data from a large study.

Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE are the first drug makers to make a vaccine that offers promising results from large-scale clinical trials.

The companies said they have so far found no serious health concerns caused by the vaccine and aim to seek US emergency use authorisation later this month.