Ghana receives second consignment of Covax vaccines

This is the second consignment received via the global Covax facility after the country took delivery of 600,000 doses of vaccines in February.

CAPE TOWN, May 7 (ANA) – The West African country of Ghana on Friday received its second consignment of Covax vaccines at Kotoka International Airport in the country’s capital, Accra, the health ministry confirmed in a statement.

This is the second consignment received via the global Covax facility after the country took delivery of 600,000 doses of vaccines in February.

This makes Ghana the first African country to receive its second batch from the Covax facility which is a worldwide initiative aimed at equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines directed by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and the World Health Organization.

News broadcaster BBC reported on Friday that the latest consignment of Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines was originally allocated to the Democratic Republic of Congo but it failed to use them.

Meanwhile, the country is also set to receive over 1.3 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine on May 15, the media reported, citing a statement issued by President Nana Akufo-Addo on May 5.

According to news website The Conversation, to date Ghana has managed to vaccinate nearly 850,000 people through a roll-out campaign which started on March 1.

Furthermore, the WHO has warned of a new wave of Covid-19 infections in Africa amid a slow vaccine rollout and a spike in variants, writes Modern Ghana.

Africa’s vaccination rate is the lowest in the world. The continent accounts for 1 percent of vaccine doses administered globally, down from 2 percent a few weeks ago, according to reports.

According to Modern Ghana, there are now nearly 4.6 million Covid-19 infections in Africa, with some 123,000 deaths.

African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Naomi Mackay