Government on Friday, March 5, took delivery of about 500,000 Covid-19 vaccines from the government of India.
This is expected to augment the already delivered 600,000 vaccines received last Wednesday at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) to help contain the viral disease.
At a brief ceremony to receive the vaccines, Foreign Minister Shirley Ayokor Botchwey, expressed gratitude to India for the timely donation of the vaccine.
She said, “First of all, allow me to express, on behalf of the Government and people of Ghana, our profound gratitude to the Government of India, in particular, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for the kind and timely donation of these 500,000 doses of vaccines.”
“The donation, coming just few days after the historic delivery of 600,000 doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines to Ghana, under the COVAX Initiative, is certainly a noteworthy support to our fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and reflects the very cordial and fraternal relations between Ghana and India. Furthermore, it underscores the mutual commitment of our two governments to work in solidarity and partnership to address common challenges, including the Covid-19 pandemic,” she added.
She assured government is committed to ensuring that about 20 million vaccines are secured for vaccination across the country.
“Permit me to also use this medium to assure the Ghanaian people that the President of the Republic and his Government are leaving no stone unturned in the quest to acquire, at least, 20 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to effectively inoculate the population. Indeed, we are resolute in our determination and will utilize both bilateral and multilateral arrangements to attain this objective. I will thus encourage friends and partners of Ghana to continue rallying support for Government’s efforts.”
Government is currently embarking on a mass immunisation against Covid-19 after receiving the first batch of 600,000 vaccines last week Wednesday.