Kagwe order on Covid-19 vaccine trail claims first casualty
Ruai Family Hospital license has been revoked due to breach of Covid-19 vaccination regulations.
According to the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC), the hospital has been diverting vaccines to unauthorized premises under unexplained circumstances.
The hospital has also been found culpable in carrying out vaccination in uncontrolled environment, wherein the quality and efficacy of vaccines cannot be guaranteed thereby putting at risk members of the public, said the council in a statement.
The hospital management has therefore been directed to close the facility immediately and organize to transfer all the in-patients to other facilities of their choice within the next 24 hours.
The management has further been directed to appear before the council’s disciplinary and ethics committee on Wednesday, September 1, accompanied by all the alleged accomplices who have been involved in the handling of Covid-19 vaccines allocated to the Hospital in the last one month.
Read also: Kagwe puts hospitals charging for Covid-19 jabs on notice
Meanwhile, the hospital has admitted that one of its nurses, who served as Health Care Manager for the hospital, recently resigned and was captured carrying out vaccinations at a political setting in Murang’a County.
The said employee had been directly overseeing the Covid-19 vaccination exercise and was the key custodian of the vaccines, however, the hospital maintains the nurse was not sanctioned by the facility or its leadership.
“Management has since called the staff for her statement. She confirms that she was not under any direct authority to take part in the exercise but did so on her own volition,” said the hospital in a statement.
“A tally of our vaccine allocation from Dandora depot confirms that 160 doses of what was meant for the hospital for public vaccination was used in the exercise… Whatever our staff do on their free time outside work remains governed by the laws of the land. On this particular issue, we consider this a gross misconduct as it involved misappropriation and misuse of what was by extension hospital property.”
The adverse action on the hospital came just a day after the Health CS Mutahi Kagwe issued a warning to all hospitals charging for Covid-19 shots as well as those violating vaccination regulations.
On Monday, Mr Kagwe directed Kenya Medical and Dentist Board to deregister all facilities charging for Covid-19 vaccination.
“There are those carrying out health camps with stolen vaccines. This is not going to be tolerated. Because it is our own people we are endangering,” he added.
