Ghana begins quest for local COVID-19 vaccine
Ghana has initiated plans to develop a COVID-19 vaccine locally, President Akufo-Addo has said.
Available COVID-19 vaccines are imported, and Ghana will be the first African country and counted among an elite group of nations if successful.
Leading the charge is Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, a physician and cardiothoracic surgeon who established the National Cardiothoracic Center and the Ghana Red Cross Society.
Addressing the nation in his 24th update on measures taken to curb the COVID-19 spread in Ghana, President Akufo-Addo reiterated his determination “that we should manufacture vaccines here in Ghana”.
Consequently, he has established a Committee under the Chairmanship of the former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, which is “formulating a concrete plan of action towards vaccine development and manufacturing”.
Ghana is expected to roll out its worldwide vaccination programme on Tuesday, March 2, after receiving an initial 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
The consignment is part of an initial tranche of 2.4million vaccines manufactured and licensed by the Serum Institute of India (Coviahield).
The vaccines were acquired through the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (COVAX).
Africans must manufacture their own vaccines
President Akufo-Addo’s drive for local vaccine comes after several calls for African countries to invest in the research and development of vaccines.
John Nkengasong, Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a public health agency of the African Union, had said that African countries must invest in the development of vaccines.
He wants advancement on the continent in areas including the manufacture of vaccines, diagnostics, and medicine, among others.
This, he believes, will considerably reduce dependence on other countries.
Presently, Africa depends on foreign countries and imports more than 99% of its vaccines and therapies.
Every year, infectious diseases cost the lives of more than 227 million people and produce an annual economic toll of more than $600bn.
Which countries are involved in COVID-19 vaccines
Several countries launched research into COVID-19 vaccines, but few are widely accepted.
The Pfizer–BioNTech COVID‑19 vaccine sold under the brand name Comirnaty was produced by a collaboration between German firm BioNTech in collaboration with US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.
Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, codenamed mRNA-1273, is a COVID-19 vaccine developed by the United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), and Moderna.
The Oxford/AstraZeneca was co-invented by the University of Oxford together with AstraZeneca plc is a British–Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company with its headquarters in Cambridge.
Sputnik V, another effective COVID-19 vaccine, was developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology and registered by the Russian Ministry of Health as Gam-COVID-Vac.
China, where the COVID-19 infection emerged, has approved two vaccines.
Sinopharm developed one, and Sinovac manufactured the other. There are at least 15 other vaccines under development in China.
India has also released its first Indigenous COVID-19 Vaccine known as Covaxin