It has now emerged that close to 840,000 doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in Kenya have expired.

Speaking during a press conference on Wednesday, Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Dr. Mercy Mwangangi stated that following this, the serum will have to be disposed of.

“Since the COVID-19 regulations were vacated, we have seen a decline in the number of Kenyans coming for vaccines,” she said.

She indicated that Nakuru leads with 35,000 unutilized vaccine doses followed by Busia which has not used 27,980 doses.

She at the same time called on Kenyans not yet vaccinated to make good use of available vaccines to protect themselves from COVID-19.

She cited complacency among Kenyans leading to loss of the doses.

She further noted that another one million doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccine are at risk of going to waste if they will not have been utilized by April 14, 2022.

“Kenyans who are eligible for second doses and the booster shots are not coming, we want to urge Kenyans to keep coming for the vaccines because any expired dose is a lost opportunity to save lives,” she said.

According to the Ministry, 17.3 million vaccine doses have been administered to date.