Ghana Receives First Batch of Covid-19 Vaccines through WHO’s COVAX Program

In January, it was announced by India and the African Union that 400 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines were to be supplied to Africa by the Serum Institute of India as part of the first set of Covid-19 vaccines to be distributed to low and middle-income countries.

UNICEF Ghana and World Health Organization Ghana, through a joint statement on Wednesday, are pleased to announce that Ghana has received the first batch of Covid-19 via the WHO’s COVAX program, CNN reports.

A total of  600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines arrived at Kotoka International Airport, Accra, making them the first country to receive the vaccine through the COVAX program. The consignment was received by a government delegation led by the Minister for Health-designate, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu.

The first wave of vaccines will be given to people who are 60 years old and above, people with underlying health issues and health workers, as plans are in motion for additional vaccines to be acquired through external agencies, a statement from Ghana’s Information Ministry revealed.

Today marks the historic moment for which we have been planning and working so hard. With the first shipment of doses, we can make good on the promise of the COVAX Facility to ensure people from less wealthy countries are not left behind in the race for life-saving vaccines,” UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said.