{"id":107643,"date":"2025-01-14T14:03:57","date_gmt":"2025-01-14T14:03:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/01\/14\/kagwe-refutes-claims-he-banned-sputnik-vaccine-during-covid-19-pandemic-over-political-reasons\/"},"modified":"2025-01-14T14:03:57","modified_gmt":"2025-01-14T14:03:57","slug":"kagwe-refutes-claims-he-banned-sputnik-vaccine-during-covid-19-pandemic-over-political-reasons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/kagwe-refutes-claims-he-banned-sputnik-vaccine-during-covid-19-pandemic-over-political-reasons\/","title":{"rendered":"Kagwe refutes claims he banned Sputnik vaccine during COVID-19 pandemic over political reasons"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nairobi, Kenya, Jan 14<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Agriculture Cabinet Secretary nominee Mutahi Kagwe has denied allegations that he banned the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in 2021 for political reasons during his tenure as the Health Cabinet Secretary.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kagwe faced scrutiny from Members of Parliament during his vetting by the National Assembly Committee on Appointments.<\/p>\n

The MPs questioned claims that the vaccine was banned shortly after then-Deputy President William Ruto publicly received a dose of the Russian vaccine.<\/p>\n

Ruto, at the time, was considered an outsider within the government of former President Uhuru Kenyatta due to the political fallout following the handshake between Kenyatta and Opposition Leader Raila Odinga.<\/p>\n

The Agriculture nominee refuted the allegations, asserting that the government strictly adhered to vaccine guidelines issued by the World Health Organization (WHO), which had not approved Sputnik V.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only approvals we recognized as the national executive were those issued by the World Health Organization,\u201d Kagwe stated.<\/p>\n

North Imenti MP Abdul Rahim questioned Kagwe, suggesting without evidence that political interference influenced the vaccine\u2019s ban.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no way the vaccine could have entered the country without some form of approval. It was authorized by the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU), and 230 doses were administered as part of a private initiative. However, politics edged it out,\u201d Rahim remarked.<\/p>\n

National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohammed dismissed Kagwe\u2019s explanation, alleging political motives behind the ban.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vaccine arrived in Kenya with government approval and was administered to many people, including the current President. But when the then-Deputy President received it, the government stopped it. Let\u2019s be honest with each other!\u201d Mohammed exclaimed.<\/p>\n

Committee on Appointment Chairman Moses Wetang\u2019ula questioned how the Sputnik V vaccine entered the country and was administered if it was disapproved under WHO guidelines.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that was the case, how did Sputnik V get into Kenya and find its way to Kenyans, including the then-Deputy President, before it was stopped?\u201d Wetang\u2019ula asked.<\/p>\n

Kagwe was unable to clarify how the vaccine entered the country despite WHO\u2019s disapproval. Instead, he reiterated that only WHO-approved vaccines were used.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether a vaccine arrives in the country or not, if it hasn\u2019t been approved by WHO, we cannot use it, and we didn\u2019t use it. I rest my case,\u201d Kagwe said.<\/p>\n

He also disputed the number of doses administered, saying, \u201cI don\u2019t recall the exact figures, but it wasn\u2019t anywhere near the numbers you\u2019ve mentioned. As the Ministry of Health, our decision was not to use any vaccine that hadn\u2019t been approved by WHO.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suna East MP Junet Mohammed pressed further, questioning the timing of the ban.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany people were desperately seeking vaccines at the time. On the same day the then-Deputy President received the Sputnik V jab publicly, a statement was issued in the evening banning the vaccine. Why?\u201d Mohammed asked.<\/p>\n

In response, Kagwe said, \u201cI cannot recall the exact sequence of events, but I stand by my statement that we only used vaccines approved by WHO.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sputnik V vaccine produced by Russia.During the Corona Virus pandemic.A foreign firm had \u00a0imported thousands of Russia\u2019s Sputnik vaccine for Covid-19.\u00a0The vaccine was already in use before it was banned by the Ministry of Health.<\/p>\n

The companies imported 75,000 doses and charged at least Sh7,700 for a single shot before the ban was effected on Friday, April 2 2021.<\/p>\n

\u00a0PPB had approved the vaccine for emergency use, the health of ministry later saying the vaccine had not been granted marketing approval.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nairobi, Kenya, Jan 14\u00a0\u2013 Agriculture Cabinet Secretary nominee Mutahi Kagwe has denied allegations that he banned the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in 2021 for political reasons during his tenure as the Health Cabinet Secretary. Kagwe faced scrutiny from Members of Parliament during his vetting by the National Assembly Committee on Appointments. The MPs questioned claims […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107643\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}