ACCRA, Ghana – Ghana has become the first country in the world to receive vaccines purchased through the COVAX initiative, supported by the United Nations, with the delivery of 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India.
The vaccines, delivered by UNICEF, arrived at Accra International Airport on Wednesday morning and are part of the first wave of Covid-19 vaccines sent by COVAX, an international cooperative program formed to ensure that low- and middle-income countries have access fair to vaccines for covid19.
COVAX is led by the United Nations World Health Organization; Gavi, a group of vaccines; and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, or CEPI.
Ghana is among 92 low- and middle-income countries that are receiving vaccines free of charge through COVAX. Another 90 countries and eight territories have agreed to pay if they decide to receive vaccines through COVAX.
The West African nation of 30 million has reported 81,245 cases and 584 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to data from the Ghana Health Service on Tuesday.
The vaccination campaign in Ghana will begin on March 2 and will be conducted in phases among prioritized groups, starting with health workers, adults aged 60 and over, people with underlying health problems, frontline executive, legislature, judiciary and his related officials, Acting Minister of Ghana of Information Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said in a statement.
“The Ghanaian government remains determined to ensure the well-being of all Ghanaians and is making frantic efforts to acquire adequate vaccines to cover the entire population through bilateral and multilateral agencies,” he said.
In a joint statement, UNICEF and WHO representatives in the countries described the arrival of COVAX vaccines as a critical “important occasion” to end the pandemic.
“After a year of disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic … the road to recovery for the people of Ghana can finally begin,” the statement said.
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COVAX’s shipment to Ghana is the start of what will be the largest vaccine acquisition and supply operation in history, according to the statement. COVAX plans to deliver around 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines worldwide this year.
“Today marks the historic moment for which we have planned and worked so much. With the first batch of doses, we can fulfill the promise of the COVAX Facility to ensure that people from less wealthy countries are not left behind in the race for life-saving vaccines, ”said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF’s executive director.
“The next phase in the fight against this disease can begin – the beginning of the largest immunization campaign in history,” said Fore. “Each step on this journey takes us further on the road to recovery for billions of affected children and families around the world. “