Local doctors angry as Kenya offers COVID vaccines to diplomats

Kenya has offered free COVID-19 vaccines to all diplomats based there, including thousands of United Nations staff, even though it has not completed inoculating its own health workers, other front-line staff or elderly, drawing criticism from local medics.

The offer was made in a March 18 letter sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to diplomatic missions and seen by Reuters news agency.

Macharia Kamau, the foreign ministry’s principal secretary, said the shots being offered had been supplied via the World Health Organization (WHO) co-led COVAX vaccine access scheme.

Kenya, where nearly 2,000 people have died of COVID-19, is battling a third wave and the health ministry reported 28 deaths on Friday, the highest daily toll since the pandemic began.

“We need to protect everyone resident in Kenya. It just made sense not to reach out only to Kenyans but also to the international community here,” Kamau said.Kamau said Kenyans in priority categories were still being vaccinated but the decision was in keeping with Kenya’s responsibilities as home to a large diplomatic community.