This archive report was first published on 29 June 2021.
On June 29, 2021, the World Bank approved a Sh14 million loan to Kenya to support the country's COVID-19 vaccination efforts. This is the second disbursement of the Covid-19 Emergency Response Project by the World Bank.
According to Keith Hansen, World Bank Country Director for Kenya, the additional financing comes at a critical time when the Government of Kenya is making concerted efforts to contain the rising cases of COVID-19 infections and accelerate the deployment of vaccines to a wider population.
"This additional financing comes at a critical time when the Government of Kenya is making concerted efforts to contain the rising cases of Covid-19 infections and accelerate the deployment of vaccines to a wider population," said Hansen.
The loan will enable the government to expand access to more Kenyans free of cost, as the country seeks to acquire the vaccine via the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) initiative and the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facilities.
Under the African Union facility, Kenya has negotiated rates with manufacturers where the country can acquire the vaccines at discounted rates. However, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe noted that under the Covax facility, Africa had expected to acquire 75 million doses but so far only 12 million doses had been delivered.
As of today, a total of 1,334,749 vaccines have so far been administered across the country, with 1,005,901 being first doses and 328,848 being second doses. The uptake of the second dose among those who received their first dose is at 32.7% with the majority being males at 55% while females are at 45%.
