Ministry of Health responds to Auditor General’s $81m Covid vaccine report

The Ministry of Health (MoH) has responded to the Auditor General’s latest report on the government’s COVID-19 expenditure.

The Auditor General, in his report, revealed that $80 million worth of vaccines paid for by the government of Ghana has not yet been delivered.

According to the report, the government paid over $120 million to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) for vaccines, but only $38 million worth was delivered.

The Auditor General thus recommended to the Chief Director of the Health Ministry to renegotiate and recover the outstanding balance.

According to the Auditor General, this must be done immediately to ensure the amount is recovered to the state.

Responding to the report, the Ministry of Health explained that the government was yet to take hold of the products because of unexpected hesitancy, cold chain storage challenges, spontaneous donations, as well as manufacturer’s storage difficulties.

“Due to the unexpected hesitancy, cold chain storage challenges, spontaneous donations, as well as manufacturer’s storage difficulties, the Ministry, in June 2022, was compelled to agree on a delivery schedule for the remaining 11,052 million doses to be delivered from June to December 2022. According to the schedule, 1.6 million doses were to be delivered from June to December 2022 to complete the allocation. However, this process was delayed because of the aforementioned challenges,” a statement by the ministry of health read.

However, the Ministry however assured that efforts are in place to review the contract.

“Currently, the Ministry requested and has received the June allocation, which was delivered in January 2023. In the meantime, the Ministry continues to work with the AVAT for a possible review of the contract and would want to assure the public of our commitment to work in the supreme interest of the public.”

Read the full statement below: