Ghana to receive AstraZeneca vaccines from USA, UK by mid-July – Minister

The Minister of Health, Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, says Ghana is expecting more AstraZeneca vaccines from the United Kingdom and USA by mid-July, this year, to vaccinate the rest of the population against COVID-19.

So far, Ghana had received more than 800,000 doses of AstraZeneca from the COVAX Facility, MTN Africa, and the Indian Government.

The Food and Drugs Authority has approved three vaccines for inoculation in Ghana: AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, and Johnson and Johnson.

However, global demand for the COVID-19 vaccines had outstripped supplies, thus, making it difficult for the Government to buy vaccines from the manufacturers directly.

Mr Agyeman-Manu, at the Minister’s Media Briefing in Accra on Wednesday, said government had signed two agreements with private dealers to supply the country with Sputnik V.

He, however, said government only provided Letters of Credit to the dealers and would advance payments when they had actually delivered the vaccines on the agreed timelines.

Mr Agyeman-Manu said one of the suppliers would sell the vaccine to Ghana at $19.00 per dose and the other one at $18.5 and not $26.00 as being speculated in the media.

The Minister said the Government was committed to procuring more vaccines to inoculate 20 million Ghanaians, representing 60 per cent of the population, to ensure a herd immunity.

Meanwhile, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, said those who had taken the first jab of the AstraZeneca vaccine would still be protected from the virus beyond eight to 12 months and even up to six months, although the antibodies would be reduced by 34 per cent.

He said the first dose recipients would not suffer severe health conditions or death.

Ghana has, so far, cumulatively recorded 94,619 cases, 1.2 million tests and 789 deaths from COVID-19 related ailments.

Currently there are 1,190 active cases as at June 15, with 45 daily infections.

Source: GNA