The Government of Ghana has received 600,000 COVID-19 AstraZeneca Vaccines produced by the Serum Institute of India at the Kotoka International Airport on Wednesday, 24th February, 2021.
It is the first consignment of vaccines required through the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Facility (COVAX). Ghana is the first country to receive the vaccine through the COVAX facility.
The vaccines arrived at 7:45a.m.on an Emirates Airline cargo, EK787, and were received by a delegation led by the Minister–designate for Health, Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu. He received the vaccines with joy and thanked partners who made this possible. The vaccines were subsequently offloaded by the Aviance grounding handling team to be transported to a storage facility.
The delivery comes almost a year after the World Health Organization (WHO) first described the novel coronavirus as a global pandemic and eight months after the launch of the COVAX initiative, aimed at pooling funds from wealthier countries and non-profit organizations to develop a COVID-19 vaccine and distribute it equitably around the world.
“This is a momentous occasion, as the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines into Ghana is critical in bringing the pandemic to an end,” Anne-Claire Dufay of UNICEF Ghana, and WHO country representative, Francis Kasolo, said in a statement.
“After a year of disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 80,700 Ghanaians getting infected with the virus and over 580 lost lives, the path to recovery for the people of Ghana can finally begin,” Kasolo and Dufay said.
“The vaccines will be administered to health workers, adults 60 years and above, people with underlying conditions, frontline executives, legislature, judiciary and related staff, frontline security personnel, some religious leaders, essential workers, teachers and other personalities in the Greater Accra Metro, including Awutu Senya and Awutu Senya East in the Central Region”, Information minister designate, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah indicated in a press statement.
Hon Oppong Nkrumah added that the vaccines will be deployed in health facilities and designated centers in the aforementioned geographical locations from 2nd March, 2021.
Source: MOI (PR Unit)
