Kenya has provided free COVID-19 vaccines to all diplomats based there, including thousands of United Nations staff, even though it has not completed the inoculation of its own medical staff, other front-line staff or the elderly, drawing criticism from local doctors.
The offer was made in a March 18 letter sent by the Foreign Ministry to diplomatic missions and seen by the Reuters news agency.
Macharia Kamau, chief secretary of the foreign ministry, said the shots were provided through the COVAX vaccine access scheme coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Kenya, where nearly 2,000 people have died from COVID-19, is battling a third wave, and the health ministry reported 28 deaths on Friday, the highest daily number since the start of the pandemic.
“We need to protect all Kenyan residents. It simply made sense not only to reach the Kenyans, but also the international community here, ”Kamau said.
Kamau said Kenyans in the priority categories are still vaccinated, but the decision respects Kenya’s responsibilities to host a large diplomatic community.
He estimated that between 25,000 and 30,000 diplomats, UN staff and family members live in Nairobi. “We are the only United Nations capital in the global south. Once you have this kind of honor, it comes with a certain responsibility. ”
Nairobi hosts the UN headquarters in Africa. The UN Office in Nairobi (UNON) is one of four major sites around the world, where many UN agencies, such as the UNICEF Children’s Agency and others, have large presences.
Just over 28,000 health workers, teachers and security personnel had received the first blows, the health ministry said in a March 19 post on Twitter.
He said in early March that he would set aside 400,000 vaccines for medical staff and other key workers.
Woman receives AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine in COVAX system 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 getting the vaccine accepted with them before they open diplomats,” said Elizabeth Gitau, a Kenyan doctor and executive director of the Kenya Medical Association.
The Ministry of Health addressed questions to the Foreign Ministry. Two Nairobi diplomats, who refused to be identified, confirmed to Reuters that their embassies had received the offer.
“Kenyans must be given priority,” said Chibanzi Mwachonda, head of the Union of Physicians, Pharmacists and Dentists of Kenya.
The government’s note said vaccinations would begin on March 23 and only accredited diplomats and their families were eligible.
Kenya has so far received only two batches of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines – just over a million through COVAX and a donation of 100,000 shots from the Indian government.
COVAX was set up to ensure that vaccines are available to vulnerable and high-risk people, as well as front-line health workers, in countries that cannot afford to buy photos on the highly competitive international market.
WHO sent Reuters to UNON and the Kenyan government when asked for comments.
Newton Kanhema, a UNON spokesman, confirmed that he had received the offer and would take over the government. He said UNON has about 20,000 employees and dependents, but many were children and therefore not eligible.
“Why does the Kenyan government give priority to expats – who have money and can receive vaccines through their own channels – over their own population, especially the poor?” said one of the diplomats whose embassy had received the offer of blows.