Ghana has on Wednesday taken delivery of 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India (Covishield).
The consignment is the first of the vaccines acquired through the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (COVAX), which Ghana signed unto with 92 other countries.
Ghana is the first country to receive COVID-19 vaccines as part of the COVAX initiative to ensure equitable access for everyone.
According to local media reports on Wednesday, the vaccines arrived at the Kotoka International Airport on an Emirates Airlines cargo flight and were received by an official delegation led by the Minister of Health designate, Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu.
The reports added that the COVID-19 vaccination will begin on March 2 and will be conducted in phases among segmented populations.
Earlier, UNICEF and the World Health Organization had issued a joint statement, saying that Ghana would on Wednesday receive the first shipment of vaccines from Covax, a global scheme to procure and distribute inoculations for free to poor countries.
“We are pleased that Ghana has become the first country to receive the Covid-19 vaccines from the Covax facility,” UNICEF, which organised the shipment from Mumbai, said.
According to the statement, the 600,000 doses are part of an initial tranche of deliveries of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine licensed to the Serum Institute of India, “which represent part of the first wave of Covid vaccines headed to several low and middle-income countries.”
Meanwhile, Ghana’s Ministry of Information has assured that “the Government of Ghana remains resolute at ensuring the welfare of all Ghanaians and is making frantic efforts to acquire adequate vaccines to cover the entire population through bilateral and multi-lateral agencies. We urge you to do your part by ensuring that you get vaccinated when the vaccine gets to you.”
In a statement, the ministry acknowledge the hard work of the technical teams from the Ghana Health Service, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Information, the COVID-19 Task Force and all those who have assisted in getting us this far.
“Our Development Partners are also acknowledged for their tremendous financial and technical support. It is our hope that they will continue to support us in our sustained efforts in combating this virus and putting COVID-19 behind us,” the statement said.
GIK/APA