Ghana has taken delivery of 177,600 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to vaccinate people who are yet to receive a COVID-19 jab.
The vaccine is the first batch of the Africa Union’s African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) initiative delivered to Ghana.
The consignment was received at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) on Saturday, August 7, 2021, by a Deputy Health Minister, Tina Mensah.
She said the Ministry of Health will continue to deliver on its mandate of ensuring a healthy population for national development.
The government is looking to vaccinate 20 million citizens, representing the entire adult population by the end of the year, but it has struggled to access vaccines to do so.
In his last public address on the country’s fight against COVID-19, President Akufo-Addo said Ghana was expecting over 18 million doses of vaccines through COVAX and African Medicine Supply Platform as well as other international bodies.
Ghana recently acquired 3,408 vaccine freezers, fridges and cold boxes to ensure proper storage of the different vaccines that require low and ultra-low temperatures.
The month of August is expected to see a significant increase in the number of vaccinations.
So far, Ghana has vaccinated 1,271,393 of its population.
405,971 of those vaccinated have two jabs, while 865,422 have only received the first dose of Astrazeneca vaccines.
