Middlemen caused it - Gov't explains $19 price of Sputnik COVID vaccines
- Ghana was cited by Norwegian news portals in an investigative report for buying the Sputnik V vaccine at an overpriced unit cost
- The vaccines were purchased at $19 instead of the original buying price of $10
- The ministry has explained that they had difficulty in getting the vaccines so they had to resort to middlemen
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News has come out that Ghana was cited by Norwegian news portals in an investigative report for buying the Sputnik V vaccines from the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).
According to the report, it was bought through some businessmen at an overpriced unit cost which was almost double the original price.
The vaccines were purchased at $19 instead of the original buying price of $10.
Source: UGC
The Ministry of Health in a statement explained that the vaccines were bought at that price for some peculiar reasons.
The Chief Director of the Ministry, Kwabena Boadu Oku-Afari in the statement said the several efforts to get the vaccines from the Russian government proved futile and they had to resort to using middlemen.
“The Government of Ghana was unable to obtain direct supplies from the Russian Government as stated earlier, hence the resort to the market," the statement noted.
The statement further noted that the government had to rather respond to an offer from the private office of one Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the supply of 3.4 million doses at a unit cost of $19.
“It should be noted that the US$10 price per dose, which is being proposed as the correct price, is the ex-factory price, which is only obtained from Government to Government arrangements,” the statement noted
It explained that the initial price of $25 had to be negotiated downwards to $19 through efforts of the government.
In other news, Parliament has recorded new coronavirus cases, YEN.com.gh has gathered.
New measures are therefore expected to be rolled out to stop the virus from getting out of control in the lawmaking chamber.
In a report sighted on Myjoyonline.com, Muntaka Mubarak, a member of Parliament’s Health Committee said the leadership of the House is trying to find out the number of MPs yet to take the second jab of the COVID-19 vaccine.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
