Team to make public government strategy on Covid vaccination

The ministerial advisory committee on Covid-19 vaccines will this week publish its strategy to ensure equitable access to the drugs.

The strategy will outline the country’s plans for the roll-out of the much awaited jabs, according to Dr Willis Akhwale, who heads the team. It will specify how the vaccines will be bought, where they will be stored and the priority groups to receive them.

Health ministry officials, led by Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe, have been issuing anecdotal statements on the country’s plan without giving a clear roadmap, which the Nation has learnt has not been in existence.

According to Dr Akhwale, the 11-member team is in the process of finalising the document which will be presented to stakeholders and thereafter made public on Wednesday.

“We have to be meticulous in our strategy otherwise we might tell you that we have mapped out the cold storage warehouses without seeing them and when you go there, find that it could be holding biologicals that are not compatible with vaccines,” said Dr Akhwale as he explained why the document has not been available. Vaccines are an important part of stopping the spread of Covid-19 because they offer protection by reducing a person’s risk of infection or the severity of their symptoms.

The plan will also cascade down to county governments. The main objective of the task force has been to dissect issues like vaccine hesitancy, county engagements, vaccine depots, cold chain storage and logistics, digital vaccine and immunisation records as well donor interests.

47 million doses

In total, Kenya is expecting nearly 47 million doses— 24 million through Covax, a global initiative to ensure equitable access to vaccines, 11 million from the African Union and 12 million through its internal resources.

But as Kenyans wait to be vaccinated, not everyone is eligible to receive the jab, the World Health Organisation has said.

While the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 mRNA vaccine was found to be safe and effective, the WHO said, there are populations for whom the vaccine is not recommended. People with a history of severe allergic reactions to any component of the vaccine should not be vaccinated, the WHO said.

Despite pregnant women being at a higher risk of Covid-19, there is insufficient data about how the Pfizer vaccine reacts to them and the WHO does not recommend their immunisation. Covid-19 has been associated with increased pre-term birth.

The WHO does not recommend discontinuation of breastfeeding after vaccination while the only children recommended to receive the inoculation are those above 16 years. No other child should be immunised even if they are in the high risk bracket, it says.

Fortunately, the vaccine was found safe and effective in people with conditions associated with severe forms of Covid-19, including hypertension, diabetes, asthma, pulmonary, liver or kidney disease, and stable, well-controlled chronic infections.

Vaccination

“Further studies are required for the impacts on immune-compromised persons. The interim recommendation is that immune-compromised persons who are part of a group recommended for vaccination may be vaccinated, though when possible, not before receiving information and counselling,” states the WHO.

While persons living with HIV are at a higher risk of severe Covid-19, “limited safety data exists on HIV-infected persons with well controlled disease from the clinical trials.” According to the WHO, people living with HIV should be informed and counselled about the Covid-19 vaccine using the available research data.

People who had previously contracted Covid-19 can be vaccinated but due to limited supply, they can wait up to six months from the time of infection before they can be vaccinated. This is because they are considered inoculated from the infection. At the moment, the WHO does not recommend introduction of proof of vaccination against Covid-19 before anyone can travel in or outside their country or territory.

Reporting by Bernadine Mutanu, Elizabeth Merab and Leon Lidigu