Ghana becomes world's first country to receive free doses of made in India COVAX vaccines

Ghana has become the world's first country to receive free coronavirus vaccines through the World Health Organization's COVAX program on Wednesday. A joint statement issued by UNICEF Ghana and WHO Ghana said that a shipment, consisting of 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines arrived in Ghana's capital Accra. The statement also read that it is a part of the first wave of vaccines headed to low and middle-income countries. In Ghana, over 80,700 coronavirus cases were reported and at least 580 people lost their lives. The vaccines were produced by the Serum Institute of India. 

Covid vaccine reaches Ghana

As per the website of UNICEF, the COVAX facility plans to deliver close to two billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines this year to ensure all the citizens of the world have access to vaccines. The UNICEF in its press release wrote, “This is a momentous occasion, as the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines into Ghana is critical in bringing the pandemic to an end. The only way out of this crisis is to ensure that vaccinations are available for all. We thank all partners that are supporting the COVAX Facility to deliver safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines to all countries quickly and fairly."

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India commences vaccine supply to Africa

In Ghana, frontline healthcare workers are the first to receive vaccine and others at high-risk would be prioritised during vaccination drive in Ghana, reported Aljazeera quoting Ghanaian health officials. India on February 24 dispatched the first batch of six lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses to Ghana under the COVAX facility in collaboration with the UNICEF, which aims to cover 92 countries under the initiative. COVAX is a global initiative that seeks equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines led by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and immunisation, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and others. 

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Read: COVID-19: India Commences Vaccine Supply To Africa Under COVAX Facility