Kenya has offered free COVID-19 vaccines to all diplomats stationed there, including thousands of United Nations employees, although it has not yet vaccinated its own health workers, other primary care workers or the elderly and has been criticized by local medics.
The offer was made in a March 18 letter sent to diplomatic missions by the State Department and seen by Reuters news agency.
Macharia Kamau, the chief secretary of the State Department, said the shots offered had been delivered through the World Health Organization (WHO) COVAX vaccination access program.
Kenya, where nearly 2,000 people have died from COVID-19, is fighting a third wave and the Health Ministry reported 28 deaths on Friday, the highest daily toll since the start of the pandemic.
“We have to protect everyone who lives in Kenya. It just made sense to reach out to not only Kenyans but the international community here, ”said Kamau.
Kamau said Kenyans were still vaccinated in priority categories, but the decision was in line with Kenya’s responsibilities as home to a large diplomatic community.
He estimated that 25,000 to 30,000 diplomats, UN personnel and family members live in Nairobi. “We are the only United Nations headquarters in the south of the world. Once you have this kind of honor, it comes with a certain amount of responsibility. “
Nairobi is home to the UN headquarters in Africa. The UN office in Nairobi (UNON) is one of four major locations worldwide, where many UN agencies, such as the UNICEF children’s agency and others, have a large presence.
Just over 28,000 health workers, teachers and security personnel had received their first shots, the health ministry said in a March 19 message on Twitter.
It said in early March it would reserve 400,000 vaccines for health and other essential workers.
A woman receives the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine under the COVAX program against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi [File: Monicah Mwangi/Reuters]
“I think the government should focus on vaccinating the priority population and achieving vaccine acceptance among them before opening up to diplomats,” said Elizabeth Gitau, a Kenyan physician and chief executive officer of the Kenya Medical Association.
The Ministry of Health has referred questions to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Two Nairobi-based diplomats who refused to be identified had confirmed to Reuters that their embassies had received the offer.
“Kenyans should be prioritized,” said Chibanzi Mwachonda, head of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union.
According to the government note, the vaccinations would begin on March 23 and only accredited diplomats and their families were eligible.
Kenya has only received two batches of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines so far – just over a million through COVAX and a donation of 100,000 shots from the Indian government.
COVAX was created to ensure that vaccines were available to high-risk and vulnerable people, as well as primary health care workers, in countries unable to purchase injections in the highly competitive international market.
WHO referred Reuters to UNON and the Kenyan government when asked for comment.
Newton Kanhema, UNON spokesman, confirmed that it had received the offer and would take over the government. He said UNON had about 20,000 staff and dependents, but many were children and were therefore ineligible.
“Why does the Kenyan government prioritize expats – who have money and can get the vaccines through their own channels – over its own population, especially the poor?” said one of the diplomats whose embassy had received the jabs offer.