Akufo-Addo will be the first to take the COVID-19 vaccine - Dr Nsiah Asare
-According to him, that will help allay fears in Ghanaians regarding the safety of the vaccine
-Ghana took delivery of some 600, 000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday
-Ghana has had over 80,000 cases of the virus with over 500 deaths
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Presidential advisor on health, Dr. Anthony Nsiah Asare, disclosed that President Akufo-Addo will be the first person to be vaccinated after Ghana took delivery of some 600,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
The AstraZeneca vaccine licensed to the Serum Institute of India (AZ/SII) arrived at the Kotoka International Airport on the morning of Thursday, February 22, 2021, on an Emirates Airlines cargo, EK787.
Source: Facebook
It was received by a delegation led by the Minister of Health designate, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu.
Ghana is one of the 145 countries of the UN-led COVAX Facility earmarked to take delivery of 2.4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Over 200 million dollars is being spent to procure the vaccines, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) revealed.
“President Akufo-Addo will be the first to be vaccinated. This is to assure Ghanaians that the vaccine is safe,” Dr. Nsiah Asare told Accra-based TV3.
The COVID-19 vaccination is expected to begin on March 2, 2021, and it will be in phases.
The administration intends to have some 20 million Ghanaians vaccinated.
In an earlier YEN.com.gh report, the presidential advisor on health told Accra-based Asaase Radio on Monday, February 22, 2021, that the vaccines would be made free to the “ordinary citizen.”
Meanwhile, Ghana also signed on to a consignment of the Russian Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine.
The emergency authorization was captured in a press statement by the Russian Government which states the Ghana government had “granted an emergency authorization” of the vaccine, Reuters News Agency reported.
Ghana has had 80,253 cases of the virus and 577 deaths.
The country currently has 6,658 active cases of infection, according to the latest update from the Ghana Health Service.
Herbal medicine, Cryptolepis sanguinolenta, was also approved for a clinical trial in Ghana for the treatment of COVID-19.
Known locally as ‘Nibima’, Cryptolepis sanguinolenta's approval for the trial was announced on Monday, February 1, 2021, by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).
The herbal medicine developed by the School of Public Health at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) was submitted to the FDA for the clinical trial in September 2020 and approval was granted in January 2021.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
