Ghana through the Ministry of Health has in the early hours of Wednesday, February 24 2021 taken delivery of the first batch of novel coronavirus vaccines.
The consignment is the AstraZeneca/Oxford model, licensed to Serum Institute of India (SII) – referred to as “AZ/SII”
Some 600,000 doses were received by the Health Minister-designate, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu through the COVID-19 Vaccines Advance Market Commitment (COVAX AMC) facility at the Kotoka International Airport.
Despite a portion of the public calling for further education on the vaccines, government through the Ministry of Information has already outlined its priority groups who will be administered the first batch of the vaccines.
Presidential advisor on Health, Dr. Anthony Nsiah Asare has also disclosed President Akufo-Addo will be administered the first dose of the vaccine. The move is expected to encourage the public about the safety and efficiency of the vaccines.
See the list of the priority groups below:
*Adults and elderly persons over 60 years.
*Persons with underlining health conditions.
*Frontline members of the Executive, Legislature, Judiciary and their related staff.
*Frontline Health workers.
*Front line security personnel.
*Religious leaders.
*Media and Journalists.
*Essential workers.
*High School Teachers and students.
It is expected that the second tranche of the supply will come up to about 1.5 million doses to be delivered by June 2021 under the COVAX AMC facility.
In all, Ghana could receive approximately 965,000 doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine by end of March 2021. It would however not be the only supply of vaccines the Government of Ghana intends to receive or procure.
Ghana intends to vaccinate some 20 million of its population from March to October 2021 in a fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Information in a press statement on Wednesday, February 24 said a vaccination roll-out for these priority groups will begin from March 2, 2021.
The exercise will begin in the Greater Accra Metropolis including the Awutu Senya and Awutu Senya East areas in the Central Region.
A similar segmented group within the Greater Kumasi Metropolis and Obuasi Municipality will also be covered, the ministry said.
The AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine