Ghana to receive first batch of COVID-19 vaccines

The Minister for Information-designate, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has said that Ghana is expected to take delivery of its first batch of COVID-19 vaccines later today, Monday.

“Though I have another engagement on our COVID-19 vaccines that are arriving early [Monday] morning,” Mr. Oppong Nkrumah revealed in a brief comment at the Conference and Donor Presentation for the Sustainable Development of Yendi Municipal Hospital on Sunday.

The Food and Drugs Authority has approved the AstraZeneca and Sputnik V vaccines for use in Ghana.

The government has also considered Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

The government has already indicated that it had plans to purchase 350,000 doses of the AstraZeneca by the end of February.

The vaccine rollout has been earmarked for between March and October.

As part of efforts to instill confidence in the distribution of the vaccine, the minister said some government officials will be taking the vaccine publicly.

There will also be public sensitization campaigns by the Local Government Service, Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Service, National Commission for Civic Education and Information Services Department to educate the public on the vaccination.

The Ghana Health Service said the Greater Accra, Ashanti and Western regions will receive priority in the rollout due to the high rate of infections in these areas.e.

So far, Ghana has had 80,253 cases of the virus and 577 deaths as of February 18, 2021.

The country currently has 6,658 active cases of infection, according to the latest update from the Ghana Health Service.

Out of this, 113 persons are in severe conditions, with 29 others in critical conditions.