Wednesday, March 31, 2021 – Deputy President William Ruto and his wife, Rachel Ruto, yesterday, became among the first Kenyans to receive the controversial Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine jabs.
The two were injected with the vaccine at their residence in Karen, Nairobi.
The DP encouraged Kenyans to participate in the exercise in order to protect themselves from the pandemic.
“COVID-19 vaccines are our safe and effective tools in saving lives and managing the disease,” he said in a statement.
The DP was vaccinated with the same health worker that had vaccinated two prominent lawyers – Ahmednasir Abdullahi and Donald Kipkorir – with the Sputnik V vaccine earlier in the day.
Lawyer Ahmednasir made good his promise to become the first person in Kenya to publicly receive the Sputnik V jab.
The duo posted photos on their respective social media platforms of them getting vaccinated at what looked like the same location and by the same health worker.
“Today, I became the second Kenyan to take the Russian Covid-19 Sputnik V vaccine. I have full confidence in the vaccine to protect me from all Covid-19 variants,” Kipkorir tweeted.
Last week, Health CAS Dr. Mercy Mwangangi warned that the Sputnik vaccine was not yet authorized to be administered on Kenyans.
On Monday, March 29, the Russian Embassy in Nairobi distanced itself from dispatching the Covid-19 Sputnik V vaccine.
The decision by DP Ruto to opt for the Sputnik V vaccine might be interpreted as a vote-of-no-confidence in the government-fronted AstraZeneca jab, which is being administered in public and private health facilities across the country for free.
The Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine jab costs between Sh8,000 and Sh11,000.
On Friday last week, President Uhuru Kenyatta and First Lady Margaret Kenyatta received their first dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccination at State House, Nairobi.
In a televised exercise, the first family, alongside Cabinet Secretaries including Interior’s Fred Matiang’i and his Health Counterpart Mutahi Kagwe were vaccinated with the hope of encouraging public uptake.
E! News Blog
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