Japan Donates 12 Ultra-Cold Chain Freezers to Kenya

The government of Japan has donated 12 ultra-cold chain freezers with a storage capacity of 3 million doses to Kenya. The deep freezers were handed over to Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe on Tuesday.

The freezers will facilitate the storage of vaccines at temperatures of up to -70 degrees. Vaccines like Pfizer from the US requires extreme cold temperatures for storage.

Speaking at Afya house when receiving the equipment, the Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said that three of these freezers will be placed at the Central Vaccine Stores in Kitengela, while the rest will be distributed to the nine regional stores in Nairobi, Eldoret, Kisumu, Mombasa, Nakuru, Nyeri, Meru and Kakamega.

For the Regional Garissa store, the CS explained that UNICEF is supporting the delivery of a specialized deep freezer that is suitable for the area and hoped this will also be received soon in order to serve the interests of the north-eastern part of the country.

United Postal Services Foundation has also donated 15 special insulated soft boxes which will enable the transportation of the vaccines to all the regional stores. 

Meanwhile, the ministry of Health has assured safety of the vaccine imported in the country insisting that they will not accept donations of vaccines that have a short shelf life. Currently the vaccines in the country are said to have a shelf life of six months.