President Nana Akufo-Addo
Ghana’s quest to manufacture its own vaccines will soon see the light of day, as President Akufo-Addo expects to sign the necessary documentation by February 16, 2022.
President Akufo-Addo is expected to meet officials of Pfizer and other vaccine manufacturing companies in February.
“The signature is due for the 16th. We want to be able to manufacture our vaccines here, and we are going to sign the agreement in Germany for a continental project which will involve Senegal,” President Akufo-Addo said to some queen mothers from the Ashanti Region at the Jubilee House.
The government has been harbouring plans to establish a vaccine manufacturing plant in Ghana in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The government met with the manufacturers of Pfizer vaccines in this regard in August 2021.
The government also plans to invest $25 million as seed money towards the establishment of a National Vaccine Institute to spearhead the country’s efforts at producing vaccines locally.
The Institute will also work towards Research & Development for vaccines in Ghana and building the human resource base for vaccine discovery, development, and manufacture.
The establishment of the institute forms part of recommendations by a committee established by the government to formulate a concrete plan for vaccine development and manufacturing in Ghana.
The Presidential Vaccine Manufacturing Committee has already indicated that Ghana would need $200 million to fully manufacture COVID-19 vaccines locally.
The project is envisioned to be a private-public partnership arrangement.
Africa is almost totally dependent on vaccine producers outside the continent, as it produces just 1 percent of the vaccines it administers.