The country is set to receive a consignment of 990,990 doses of the Pfizer vaccines from the United States government.
The consignment will help the Ministry of Health accelerate the COVID-19 vaccination campaign with a target of 10 million vaccinations by end of December.
It will be received by health Chief Administrative Secretary Dr Mercy Mwangangi at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
The consignment is part of the 4.8 million coronavirus vaccine doses that the United States is donating to Kenya, Chad, Egypt and Gabon.
The move follows an announcement earlier in the week that the United States would allow the African Union to purchase an allotment of 33 million doses of the two-shot Moderna vaccine that were originally intended for the United States.
“As the president has said, the virus knows no borders, and it is going to require every company and every country to step up and take bold, urgent action to stop the spread of COVID-19 and save lives,” said Natalie Quillian, White House deputy COVID-19 response coordinator.
“We are grateful to have helped negotiate this encouraging step forward between Moderna and the African Union that will significantly expand access to vaccines on the continent in the near term. This is an important action, as we continue to expand manufacturing capacity now and expand access to mRNA vaccines with some of the hardest-hit parts of the world.”
Landlocked Chad, one of the world’s poorest nations, will get 115,830 doses, Egypt will receive 3,634,020 doses and Gabon is to get 101,790 doses.
That vaccine requires two shots for full immunity, and American authorities have recommended that certain high-risk groups should receive booster shots of that vaccine after their initial course.
Pfizer is among five vaccines authorised vaccines for use in the country alongside AstraZeneca/Covishield, Pfizer, Moderna, Sinopharm as well as the Johnson and Johnson vaccines.