Ghana has received 1,229,620 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, donated by the government of the United States of America.
The much-awaited consignment of COVID-19 vaccines arrived at Kotoka International Airport on board an extra-large United Airlines Dreamliner plane today (Saturday 4 September 2021).
The shipment was due to arrive in Ghana last Saturday (28 August 2021) but the lorry transporting the vaccines was involved in an accident in West Virginia and so the stock had to be replaced.
Ghana started her COVID-19 vaccination programme in March 2021 with the AstraZeneca vaccines. Due to the global shortage of vaccines, the immunisation programme could not proceed as planned.
US President, Joe Biden, pledged to donate 80 million doses of vaccines to other needy countries in May. African Union member states are receiving roughly 25 million of the Moderna vaccine; Nigeria and South Africa are to receive ten million.
The Akufo-Addo government plans to vaccinate the entire adult population of Ghana, which is estimated to be about 20 million people, by the end of this year.
Vaccine Inflows
Ghana’s vaccination programme has renewed energy with the recent inflow of many vaccines. Besides today’s consignment of Moderna, these include 249,600 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine received under the COVAX initiative and another 1.5 million doses donated by the German government.
In addition, 244,800 doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine have been received through the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) mechanism, established by the African Union and supported by the World Bank, bringing the total number of doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine that Ghana has received, acquired through AVAT and other sources, to 422,400.
Also under the COVAX initiative, Ghana is expected to receive over 1.3 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, as the country’s share of the vaccines donated by the United States government to Africa.
COVID-19 situation
According to Ghana’s COVID-19 dashboard (www.ghs.gov.gh/covid19), the country’s active case count stands at 6,940 after 449 new cases of the coronavirus were added to the national tally over the reporting period.
The GHS reports that as of 30 August 2021, the total number of confirmed cases in Ghana stood at 120,452, out of which 112,460 cases are recoveries.
One hundred and forty-seven individuals are in severe condition, 60 of which remain critical. The GHS also reports that the number of cases detected at Kotoka International Airport is 2,668, with 2,521 recoveries.
Regional Cumulative Cases
The regional breakdown of the total number of cases recorded in Ghana is: Greater Accra – 64,720, Ashanti – 20,164, Western – 6,756, Eastern – 6,081, Volta – 4,510 and Central – 4,259.
The tallies for the other regions are Bono East – 2,411, Bono – 2,046, Northern – 1,704, Upper East – 1,370, Ahafo – 1,030, Western North – 956, Oti – 759, Upper West – 575 and North East – 256.
Wilberforce Asare
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