Ghana has taken delivery of 350,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from the Democratic Republic of Congo through the COVAX initiative.
UNICEF facilitated the safe transport of the vaccines from DR Congo.
The consignment was initially allocated to the central African country but was shipped into Ghana after it failed to utilise them weeks after it arrived in that country.
COVAX thus decided to re-allocate these vaccines to countries that have been able to utilise their entire first allocation.
More vaccines are needed in Ghana as the Ghana Health Service is yet to begin giving out second doses to persons who have received their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
This new batch of vaccines is meant to support the government’s efforts to administer second doses, with a focus on health and frontline workers, persons with underlying medical conditions and people over 60 years.
The 350,000 doses of vaccines are an addition to the 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine received on February 24, this year from COVAX.
In addition to the COVAX support, Ghana has received 50,000 AstraZeneca vaccines from the Indian government and 165,000 from MTN.
Ghana has so far vaccinated 849,527 persons, according to the Ghana Health Service.
President Akufo-Addo expects the government to procure 1.3 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccines from Russia to aid the vaccine efforts.
Exhibiting more ambition, he has also said the government is on course to purchase some 42 million additional COVID-19 doses by the close of the year.
The government hopes to vaccinate 20 million Ghanaians by the end of 2021.
