State to probe alleged illegal sale of coronavirus vaccines

Alvin Mwangi and George Kebaso

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe yesterday said the ministry has engaged the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to investigate claims of illegal sale of Covid-19 vaccines in the country. 

 The CS said unscrupulous health practitioners were administering the vaccines to unsuspecting Kenyans in unregistered clinics across the country at a fee.

  “I would like to tell Kenyans that such exercises going on are illegal and chances are that you are not even vaccinated with proper vaccines,” he added.

Kagwe was speaking at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) where he commissioned a Microwave waste management machine with the support of the Belgian Government.

A senior DCI detective yesterday confirmed that they had received the report but declined to comment on the status of the investigations. 

A joint team of detectives and officials from the ministry are conducting the probe.

However, People Daily has independently established that thousands of vaccines shipped into the country in March to be administered to frontline workers and the elderly had found their way into the black market.

Those administering the jabs were charging between Sh3,000 and Sh2,000, we established.  

Kagwe said the inoculation was free and no Kenyan should pay any fee to be vaccinated, adding that the ministry was currently only issuing the second dose of the jab.

Fake certificates

“We have seen in the social media that some advertise and even issue fake certificates presumed that can be used to travel. At the moment, we are not issuing the first dose vaccination. We are only doing the second vaccination,” the CS said.

Separately, the Head of National Covid-19 Vaccine Deployment Task Force, Dr Willis Akhwale, also confirmed that he was aware that some KNH healthcare workers had been arrested in connection with the alleged sale of the vaccines.

He attributed this to the high demand by members of the public for the second jab, and the rogue civil servants were trying to sell, terming it unfortunate.

“These people are taking advantage of the growing anxiety among people for the second dose of the vaccine, a situation that has increased demand,” Akhwale said.

He, however, said  the practice will stop in the coming weeks when the country gets more vaccines.

The government warning over the sale of the vaccines comes days after the World Health Organisation (WHO) cautioned that criminals were increasingly attempting to exploit ongoing vaccination to peddle bogus Covid-19 vaccines.

“Increased vigilance should include hospitals, clinics, health centres, wholesalers, distributors, pharmacies and any other suppliers of medical products,” WHO said in a statement.

The organisation said all medical products must be obtained from authorised suppliers. The products’ authenticity and physical condition should be carefully checked.

In South America and South Africa, bogus liquid being sold as Sputnik V and Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines was intercepted.

Kagwe said for the time being, only healthcare workers, police officers and soldiers aged above 50 will be given priority in the administration of the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

The government began rolling out the second jab last Friday, well after 12 weeks recommended by the global health body.

Kenya hopes to have 16 million people inoculated over the next two years with priority being health workers, the elderly and the vulnerable.

In early March, the country received 1.02 million doses, enough for slightly more than 500,000 people requiring two doses eight to 12 weeks apart. This would cover health and home-care workers, teachers and security personnel.

Second phase

The second phase will involve 9.7 million people, comprising the elderly aged above 50 and those aged above 18 with underlying medical conditions, between July and June 2022.

Kagwe said of the 30 million Johnson and Johnson vaccine doses the government has procured through the African Union (AU), the first batch of 10 million is expected in the next few weeks. 

He said the Johnson & Johnson vaccine would be the best alternative since it comes with the added advantage of being a single dose regime.

The shortage of doses has been occasioned by the ban in exports by India’s Serum Institute, the world’s biggest producer of vaccines, which could not live up to the international demand following a sharp rise in Coronavirus cases in the country.