Ghana is expected to receive its first batch of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines in August.
This follows the approval by Ghana’s Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) for its use in the country.
The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, who announced this at a press conference in Accra on Wednesday, said government had placed orders for the vaccines with the Africa Medicines Platform.
“We have indications that our first batch of vaccines to come from the AU supported procurement will begin to arrive in this country sometime in august. We are still waiting for the exact date,” he said.
He, however, did not give details as to the cost involved in procuring the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines, but said government had made a 15 per cent deposit “to show that our order is backed with political will.”
The Minister also failed to mention the number of doses being procured.
According to the Health Minister, Ghana would in in the mid of July this year receive more doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines from the UK and USA.
“The government is also making frantic efforts to procure more vaccines, to complete the second jabs for those who have not received them, and to continue the mass vaccination of the 20 million people targeted. So, there is hope for those who have not received their jabs. Be assured,” he said.
Ghana’s COVID-19 status
As of Tuesday, June 15, 2021, Ghana had confirmed 94,619 total cases of the COVID-19 disease out of 1,211,943 tests.
A total of 789 persons had succumbed to the disease, while 92,518 persons had recovered from the disease.
The number of active cases stands at 1,190.
Vaccination
A total of 1,231,203 persons have so far received the first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine as of Tuesday, June 15, 2021.
Out of 852,047 persons who received the first dose of vaccination, 379,156 people have so far received their second jabs out of 381,787 targeted.
Thus, 472,891 persons are waiting to take their second dose of the vaccine.