The newly arrived COVID-19 vaccines will be deployed to designated health facilities from March 2, 2021.
Ghana took delivery of 600,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India on Wednesday.
The vaccines arrived via the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (COVAX) which Ghana has signed onto alongside 91 other countries.
There is no indication yet when the actual vaccination of persons will begin.
The areas earmarked for the initial vaccine rollout are the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area including Awutu Senya and Awutu Senya East in the Central Region.
A similar segmented population in the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area and Obuasi municipality will also be covered, according to a statement from the Information Ministry.
The persons in these areas who will benefit from the initial doses of vaccine are “health workers, adults 60 years and over, people with underlying health conditions, frontline executive, legislature, judiciary and their related staff, frontline security personnel, some religious leaders, essential workers, teachers and other personalities.”
The statement assured that the government “remains resolute at ensuring the welfare of all Ghanaians and is making frantic efforts to acquire adequate vaccines to cover the entire population through bilateral and multilateral agencies.”
Find below the full statement
The Government of Ghana is taking delivery of 600,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India (Covishield), today, February 24, 2021. This is the first consignment of vaccines acquired through the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (COVAX) which Ghana, among 92 countries, has signed unto.
COVID-19 vaccination will be conducted in phases among segmented populations. The first segment of the population that will receive from the 600,000 doses will be health workers, adults 60 years and over, people with underlying health conditions, frontline executive, legislature, judiciary and their related staff, frontline security personnel, some religious leaders, essential workers, teachers and other personalities in Greater Accra Metro including Awutu Senya and Awutu Senya East in the Central Region. A similar segmented population in the Greater Kumasi Metro and Obuasi municipality will also be covered.
From 2nd March, the COVID-19 vaccines will be deployed in health facilities and designated centres in these geographical regions.
The Government of Ghana remains resolute at ensuring the welfare of all Ghanaians and is making frantic efforts to acquire adequate vaccines to cover the entire population through bilateral and multilateral agencies. We urge you to do your part by ensuring that you get vaccinated when the vaccine gets to you.
We acknowledge the hard work of the technical teams from the Ghana Health Service, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Information, the COVID-19 Task Force and all those who have assisted in getting us this far. Our Development Partners are also acknowledged for their tremendous financial and technical support. It is our hope that they will continue to support us in our sustained efforts in combating this virus and putting COVID-19 behind us.
