First batch of COVID-19 vaccines arrives, counties to receive share by Friday

"The vaccines will be distributed across all the counties where it will be rolled out to regional hospitals and down to level 3 and level 2 hospitals," CS Mutahi said.

Kagwe described the arrival of the vaccines as "an exciting moment for our nation."

"We have been fighting the pandemic with rubber bullets but what we have received is an equivalent to machine guns and tanks," Kagwe added.

The CS also said once the vaccination is rolled out to the general public, it will be purely voluntary. "There are those who would wish not to be vaccinated but we hope it will be a majority of them willing to be vaccinated," Kagwe said.