Ghana has become the first country to receive COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX facility, co-led by the Gavi The Vaccine Alliance, along with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
The arrival of the 600 000 doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine will mark the launch of the West African country’s coronavirus inoculation programme.
Ghana has recorded over 80 000 COVID-19 cases and nearly 600 deaths.
The key goal of the COVAX facility is to ensure equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines across the world.
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Since November 2020, developed countries launched vaccination drives whilst the global south struggled to secure procurement of the various drugs available.
This has drawn heavy criticism over what seems like vaccine nationalism.
COVAX through subsidised funding allows for poorer countries to acquire vaccines.
The WHO says Ghana’s consignment represents the beginning of what should be the largest procurement and supply operation in history.
The facility aims to deliver about 2 billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to various countries in 2021.
Over 3.8 million confirmed #COVID19 cases on the African continent – with more than 3.3 million recoveries & 101,000 deaths cumulatively.
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