NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 9- The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops says Catholic faithful like other Kenyans are free to take the COVID-19 vaccine, and has dismissed reports that the church is against it.
In a statement on Tuesday, the church leaders said the views expressed by the Kenya Catholic Doctors Association cautioning its members and Kenyans against the vaccine was not binding to the Catholic church.
The Conference chairperson Most Rev. Phillip Anyolo however, said the Ministry of Health should make sure all the vaccines are clinically genuine, safe and effective.
“It must be understood that those doctors cannot and should not purport to speak in the name of the Catholic church,” he said, “Consequently, we urge the Ministry of Health to take all the necessary steps required to affirm to the public that the vaccines are genuine, safe and effective, in order to encourage people to be vaccinated.”
He urged Kenyans to accept the vaccine, while those still opposed to it, should strictly adhere to the Ministry of Health protocols.
Kenya launched a nationwide vaccination exercise last week after receiving the initial 1.02 million doses of Covax-funded AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines, which are currently being administered voluntarily, with plans to intensify public sensitization.
The government plans to start with vaccinating 16 million people by end of the year to suppress the virus with vaccines from Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Johnson and Johnson.
In phase two of the vaccination, which is set to kick off in July and end in June 2022, 9.7 million Kenyans will be vaccinated.
