NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 30- Kenya now says it will extend its search for COVID-19 vaccine to other countries like China, India and South Korea amid increased deaths from the virus.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe made the announcement Monday after a National Emergency Response Committee meeting, chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Already, the country through the research programme dubbed Kemri-Wellcome Trust is engaged in a search for a vaccine mission, in a collaboration with the Oxford University, Astra-Zeneca.
Some 7 countries among them the United States are participating in the research, with 60,000 participants expected in the trials this month.
“The Government remains open to collaborative opportunities,” the CS said.
While the threat of COVID-19 infections remains high, the country on Monday continued to record relatively fewer cases, after weeks of a sustained surge.
Kagwe said the Ministry had recorded 302 new COVID-19 cases from a sample size of 3,038 tested across the country since Sunday.
This raised the country’s caseload to 83,618 cases since the pandemic struck the country in March.
Meanwhile, 369 patients recovered from the disease raising the number of recoveries to 55,344.
The disease however claimed 17 lives, bringing the cumulative fatalities to 1, 469.
