DP Ruto: Why I have not received the COVID-19 vaccine

Deputy President William Ruto says he has not received the COVID-19 vaccine but he will be willing to receive the jab when the opportunity comes.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Radio Citizen, the DP said the Cabinet decided that workers at frontline of the fight against COVID-19 be prioritised in the vaccination exercise.

Ruto pointed out that it would not be in order for him to receive the jab while a medical worker who is much more exposed to the virus has not been inoculated.

“Chanjo tulianza na wale watumishi ambao wako mstari wa mbele, haingekuwa mzuri kama mimi nimechanjwa na daktari ambaye yuko mstari wa mbele hana chanjo,” he said.

The deputy president dispelled fears about the vaccine, urging Kenyans to come out and take the jab when the opportunity comes.

“Ni vyema ya kwamba kila Mkenya unapopata nafasi ya kupata mchanjo…ni kizuizi kikubwa sana ya kupata maradhi haya yanayoletwa na corona. Na mimi ikifika nafasi yangu, wakati itafika kiwango cha wale tunaofanya kazi hizi zingine, mimi ntakuwa mstari wa mbele pamoja na rais na mawaziri, kwa sababu tunataka kila Mkenya apate chanjo ndio tuweze kurudi katika hali ya kuendesha kazi zetu,” said Dr. Ruto.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Health announced that 64,100 people had so far been vaccinated since the arrival of the 1 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on March 3, 2021.

The Health Ministry said over the next two weeks it intends to vaccinate at least 20,000 people per day.

“From our records the exercise is going on smoothly. To date we have vaccinated 64,100 persons and the last two days we have had an average of 10,000 vaccinations administered. Over the next two weeks we aim to be vaccinating over 20,000 people per day,” said the Ministry in a statement.