Ghana’s vaccine roll-out losing steam

By Chad Williams On Apr 28, 2021

Ghana’s initial plan was to vaccinate 20 million residents, about two-thirds of the population, by the end of October 2021.

Ghana’s rollout of Covid-19 vaccines seems to have slowed down in recent weeks, despite a successful start to its vaccination campaign that began just under eight weeks ago. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency (ANA)

CAPE TOWN, April 28 (ANA) – Ghana’s rollout of Covid-19 vaccines seems to have slowed down in recent weeks, despite a successful start in its vaccination campaign which began just under eight weeks ago.

The country, which was one of the first nations in the world to receive 600,000 Covid-19 vaccines from the Covax facility in February, as well as 360,000 doses from India and telecom giant MTN as donations, has had a few hiccups.

Some 16,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine were also delivered in March, but none have been administered so far, according to reports.

According to the Conversation, Ghana’s initial plan was to vaccinate 20 million residents, about two-thirds of the population, by the end of October 2021.

According to the report, to meet the end-of-year coverage target of 20 million people, Ghana needed to administer first doses to about 65,000 citizens each day.

The Conversation reports that the current average pace of about 16,000 per day is well short of that and has been declining steadily since the end of Phase 1 on April 15.

The relatively slow pace of progress is largely attributable to the limited availability of vaccines as deliveries expected in March and April have not materialised, said the report.

Another reason for Ghana’s slow progress is India’s decision to temporarily ban the export of Covid-19 vaccines in order to meet local demand as the country grapples a dramatic surge in infections.

To meet the end-of-year coverage target of 20 million people, Ghana needed to administer first doses to about 65,000 citizens each day.

Furthermore, Bloomberg reports that Ghana’s pharmaceutical industry has approached AstraZeneca Plc about acquiring the rights to manufacture the UK company’s vaccine locally.

If granted, this could boost supplies and speed up the inoculation programme in the country, but overall this could be a game changer for the entire continent, which seems to have been left behind as richer nations continue to stockpile vaccines.

– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Naomi Mackay