Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo on Monday received the coronavirus vaccine from COVAX a global scheme to procure and distribute inoculations for free for poorer countries.
Mr Akufo-Addo becomes the first recipient of the COVAX vaccine which is jointly facilitated by the World Health Organisation.
Other facilitators include Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
“It is important that I set the example that this vaccine is safe by being the first to have it so that everybody in Ghana can feel comfortable about taking this vaccine,” Akufo-Addo, 76, said before receiving a shot of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in a live broadcast.
The first lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo also received a shot, one day before the rest of the 600,000 doses are deployed across the country.
The vaccines arrived Ghana last Wednesday.
The country’s food and drug authority last month authorised the Indian-made vaccine and Russia’s Sputnik V, as the government aims to target 20 of its 30 million population by year’s end.
Some 145 participating economies are set to receive 337.2 million doses by mid-year.
COVAX has said it hopes to raise the figure to up to 27 per cent in lower-income countries by the end of December.
Ghana, meanwhile, has recorded 84,023 Covid-19 cases and 607 deaths since the start of the pandemic, although the true figure is believed to be higher because of lack of testing.