Presidential Adviser on Health, Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare, has revealed that Ghana is expecting about 1.2 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
According to him, the Food and Drugs Authority has approved Pfizer for emergency use alongside four others, adding that the receipt of these vaccines will see the country finally begin its second deployment phase of the vaccination plan.
Speaking on The Probe on JoyNews, Dr Nsiah-Asare said that preparations were in place to receive the Pfizer vaccines including an arrangement for a freezer that can help store the doses.
“Through the US government, President Joe Biden has recently given African Union about 10 million doses of Pfizer and five million doses of Johnson and Johnson. I am also happy to say that Ghana will be receiving about 1.2 plus million of Pfizer [vaccines] soon,” he said.
“We have ultra-cold freezers which can store these vaccines. Luckily the drone distribution centers also have minus 80-degree fridges and they are helping us to also distribute these vaccines to three rural areas. So, we can now receive Pfizer for distribution.”
As of July 5, about 864,964 Ghanaians had received doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Out of that, 400,342 have received two doses while 464,623 had only one.
The Presidential Adviser told Emefa Apawu, host of the show, that there has been new research that shows that the people with one dose of vaccine are not in any danger.
However, the government is working to ensure that the people with only one dose are able to receive their second, Dr Nsiah-Asare said.
“We are working round the clock to get another few doses of AstraZeneca to be able to complete the first deployment phase we made. About 464, 000 people to be vaccinated and hopefully we will get more from all the other sources that we have put in place,” he said.
He added that Johnson and Johnson and Moderna vaccines have also been approved for emergency use.
He, however, urged Ghanaians to continue to comply with the safety protocols while the government continues to ensure vaccines are procured for everyone.