Doctor, chef, leader and anti-coronavirus champion
Monday March 08 2021
Dr Mercy Mwangangi, Kenya s Health Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS), updates the country on Covid-19 on September 22, 2020. PHOTO | FILE | NMG
Summary
From a little known administrator, Dr Mercy Mwangangi is likely the most well-known CAS in Kenya, something that leaves her feeling as if she is two persons in one.
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Early in 2020, Dr Mercy Mwangangi was settling down at her new job as the Chief Administrative Secretary in Kenya’s Ministry of Health, drafting plans and charting a course, not only for her career but also for the ministry.
Would she fit in? Would she stand out? Would her passion in primary healthcare get the attention she deemed it deserved? What lay ahead? She pondered these and other questions.
By Reuters Staff
(Adds details)
NAIROBI, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Kenya is going ahead with its plan to inoculate its citizens against COVID-19 using a vaccine developed by AstraZeneca, a senior health ministry official said on Thursday, dismissing concerns over its efficacy.
South Africa paused the rollout of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University following a small clinical trial that showed it offered minimal protection against mild to moderate illness from the 501Y.V2 variant dominant in the country.
That move will not deter Kenya, which says it expects to receive 24 million doses of the vaccine beginning this month, said Mercy Mwangangi, the chief administrative secretary at the ministry.
Kenya said on Friday it was seeking an extra 11 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, on top of 24 million already ordered, and hopes to have 16 million people inoculated by June next year.
Kenya is going ahead with its plan to inoculate its citizens against COVID-19 using a vaccine developed by AstraZeneca, a senior health ministry official said on Thursday, dismissing concerns over its efficacy.