Kenya’s Ministry of Health reported more than 280,000 people have so far been vaccinated against the coronavirus just over a month after receiving its first doses of vaccine.
“A total of 282,518 people have been vaccinated across the country as of April 3, 2021,” the ministry tweeted on Sunday.
On March 2, Kenya received 1.02 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, through the COVAX facility, as part of an initial allocation of 3.56 million doses.
The government officially began a free nationwide vaccination campaign on March 5 but, in recent weeks, has been working to improve reluctance in uptake of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, including among frontline workers.
It also recently ordered an immediate suspension on private importations of vaccines citing fears that it may lead to counterfeit inoculations getting into the country.
Kenya is experiencing a third wave of COVID-19 infections which has resulted in health facilities being overwhelmed and the government placing fresh restrictions in five regions, including the capital Nairobi, which were designated as hot spots.
The East African country has so far reported 138,988 confirmed cases and 2,224 deaths.
