Kenya received 72,000 doses that South Sudan returned to the Covax facility after Juba administration lamented over lack of capacity for inoculation.

The doses landed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi and were moved to Kenya’s National Vaccine Depot in Kitengela- outskirts of Nairobi.

Kenya began the vaccination drive after receiving 1.02 million doses of the vaccine earlier 2021.

By Saturday, when Nairobi received the doses, 968, 733 people had been inoculated. But Kenya’s ministry of health decried lack of vaccines to enable it to administer second injections as per the medical requirement that a person must have two doses at least two months apart.

“In keeping with the recommendations of the World Health Organization, the second dose is administered after 12 weeks so people who are due have received a message as a reminder which is being sent 48 hours to when one is expected to go for their second jab from tomorrow,” said the Chairperson of the Vaccine Taskforce Dr Willis Akhwale as quoted by the Kenyan media.

Last week, on May 25, the Undersecretary in the ministry of health Dr Mayen Machuot was quoted by Kenya’s Daily Nation saying the country was considering returning extra doses to avert a glut and wastage of vaccines when they expire.

“We are struggling economically … that’s why we have problems funding the deployment itself. We are actually tightening our belts … that’s why hopefully, in the next two weeks, the 60,000 we have will be dispersed all over the country,” he said.

“We don’t want to run the risk of [the vaccine] expiring in our hands. It will be accounted for, so we are committing [to return] 72,000 doses so that they are used by [countries that] can deploy them in one week,” he added.

South Sudan had to trash 60,000 doses of the vaccines that expired shortly after being imported into the country.