Ghana is set to take delivery of 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from Germany.
The vaccines are part of the outcome of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s recent negotiations with the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel.
Director of Communications at the Jubilee House, Eugene Arhin at a Presidential Press Corps briefing on Monday disclosed that processes are already underway to ensure that the vaccines arrive in the country for administration.
“The German Chancellor has made it known that, at least, Germany will be helping Africa with 70 million vaccines. The President had a bilateral meeting with the German Chancellor. One of the things that came out was the vaccine.”
“I am happy to inform Ghanaians that the German Chancellor made it known to the President that, a total of 1.2 million AstraZeneca vaccines were to be given to Ghana. A few moments ago, I got confirmation from the President that, this has increased to 1.5 million. According to the President, he is dispatching a plane to Germany to take delivery of the vaccines,” Mr. Arhin said.
The arrival of the AstraZeneca vaccines from Germany will be a major boost to Ghana’s COVID-19 vaccination drive, which slowed down for about two months.
AstraZeneca was the first vaccine to arrive in Ghana earlier this year when the country heightened its efforts to beat COVID-19.
Out of the about 800,000 people to have been vaccinated with AstraZeneca, nearly half of the number is yet to get the second jab.
But beginning Tuesday, August 31, 2021, those due for their second jabs will begin receiving the vaccines in the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions.
Ghana has already vaccinated a section of the population with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which arrived in the country last month through the African Union’s African Vaccine Acquisition Trust initiative.
