Kenya could give its vaccination campaign a big 'boost' in August by implementing a programme that will allow many categories, including tourism, to make the country safe, not only by moving forward with herd immunity, but also by making it attractive again for international travel. At present, in fact, the biggest hurdle to overcome is that of guaranteeing citizens of foreign nations, and particularly of the EU bloc, the safety of being able to stay for holidays or business in Kenya without being subjected to a quarantine regime.
In August, in fact, as announced by the head of the Kenya Vaccine Task Force and number two of the World Health Organisation on the African continent, Dr Morris Akwale, 13 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine will arrive in Kenya thanks to an African Union programme. The request was made directly by the Kenyan government last April, following the emergency in India that had interrupted supplies of the AstraZeneca vaccine, produced under licence by the Serum Institute in Delhi, of which India had already sent 1.2 million doses, with the aid of the Covax programme.
In the meantime, after the arrival announced yesterday of 358,000 AstraZeneca doses from Denmark and a further 500,000 by July from other donations, the coverage of health workers and government employees will be ensured, continuing to recommend to those over 58 years who have not yet done so, to proceed with the vaccination.
With the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is a single dose, new sectors will presumably be involved, including, as the Ministry has suggested, those in the tourism industry. It will also be important here to implement an information campaign focusing on the necessity (given that the Government has ruled out the obligation) for those working in contact with the public to have the vaccine, in order to completely reactivate the economy.
In addition to this, many African countries are taking steps to produce their own vaccine. Uganda has announced in recent days that it is already at work, while researchers from Ethiopian institutes will soon make their results known. Cuba has also agreed to cooperate with East Africa, declaring its vaccine 92% safe.
Yesterday, the Coalition for Dialogue in Africa (CoDA), an independent team supporting the African Union to put in place systems to produce essential vaccines, announced a new commission to oversee their production.
It is a move to convince countries that have not implemented serious measures and have no funds to buy vaccines from abroad not to wait for aid from Covax or generous nations concerned about Africa's future.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)