COVID-19: Ghana's President becomes world's first recipient of free COVAX jab

Ghana's president Nana Akufo-Addo on Monday, March 1, became the ‘first recipient’ in the world to receive a coronavirus vaccine from COVAX. Taking to his official Twitter handle, the President made the announcement just hours before being inoculated. “I will take the vaccine this morning at the 37 Military Hospital. #TheVaccineIsSafe #IWillTakeTheVaccine”, wrote Nana.

Ghana recieves vaccine 

This comes after Ghana became the world's first country to receive free coronavirus vaccines through the World Health Organization's COVAX program. A joint statement was issued by UNICEF Ghana and WHO Ghana said that the shipment consisted of 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines and has 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. The vaccines have been produced by the Serum Institute of India. 

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The aim of the COVAX facility is to deliver close to two billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines this year and ensure that all the citizens of the world have access to vaccines. A press release by UNICEF said, “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”. 

Read: India's First Vaccine Shipment Under COVAX To Be Rolled Out Soon, To 25-30 Countries: WHO

According to a tally by the Johns Hopkins University, Ghana has a total of 84,023 cases with over 600 fatalities. As per the reports by AlJazeera, Ghana officials said that the frontline healthcare workers will be the first one to receive a vaccine and others at high-risk would be prioritised during the vaccination drive.  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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