(From left) Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye and Tina Gifty Mensah receiving the vaccine documentation from AVAT officials
The Ghana Health Service has received 177,600 doses of the Johnson & Johnson single-shot COVID-19 vaccine under the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT).
The consignment is part of a total of 6.4 million vaccine doses being shipped to African Union Member States this month to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
Deputy Health Minister, Tina Gifty Mensah and the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye took delivery of the vaccine at the Kotoka International Airport over the weekend.
It forms part of the historic COVID-19 vaccine advance procurement agreement signed on March 28, 2021 by AVAT for the purchase of 220 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson single-shot doses, with the potential to order an additional 180 million doses.
“The agreement and the start of deliveries mark the first time that the African Union Member States have collectively purchased vaccines to safeguard the health of the African population,” a joint press release announced following the arrival of the vaccines at the Kotoka International Airport.
In total, the 400m vaccines acquired by AVAT are sufficient to immunise a third of the African population.
The member states who have ordered vaccines through AVAT will continue to receive shipments for the following months.
AVAT was established by the African COVID-19 Vaccine Acquisition Task Team, set up in November 2020 under the African Union chairmanship of President Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa.
It is part of the African Union’s COVID-19 Vaccine Development and Access Strategy, and its goal of vaccinating at least 60 per cent of the African population with safe and efficacious vaccines against COVID-19.
The agreement with Johnson & Johnson was made possible through a $2 billion facility provided by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), who are also the financial and transaction advisers, guarantors, instalment payment advisers and payment agents, and the support of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) who coordinated the alignment of the AU Ministers of Finance on the financing arrangements.
The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) supported by the African Medical Supplies Platform (AMSP) is providing logistical and delivery services to the various AU member states.
Ghana has so far administered 1,271,393 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, out of which 865,422 people have taken the full dose and 405,971 their first dose.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri