COVID-19 vaccination in Ghana began on Monday 1 March 2021 after the country became the first recipient of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine as part of the

COVAX COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access, abbreviated as COVAX, is a worldwide initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines directed by the GAVI vaccine alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and the World Hea ...

initiative. As of 6 June 2021, Ghana has administered 1,230,000 vaccine doses.

Background

In 2020, president

Nana Akufo-Addo Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ( ; born 29 March 1944) is a Ghanaian politician who has served as the president of Ghana since 7 January 2017. In 2020, he was re-elected for his second term, which will end on 6 January 2025. Akufo-Addo previously ...

signed the

UNAIDS The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) (, ONUSIDA) is the main advocate for accelerated, comprehensive and coordinated global action on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The mission of UNAIDS is to lead, strengthen and support an e ...

''Public Letter on People's Vaccine'' which was a campaign calling for public accessibility to the

COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an e ...

. He joined other world leaders to write an open letter in order to encourage the distribution of free vaccines at no cost to all people. This was because of concerns raised that people in richer countries may have quicker access to the vaccine than poor countries.

Minister for Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between coun ...

Shirley Ayorkor Botchway Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey (born 8 February 1963), is a Ghanaian politician who serves as Ghana's minister for foreign affairs and regional integration. She was appointed by Ghanaian president Nana Akufo-Addo as Minister of Foreign Affairs on 10 Ja ...

stated on 12 February 2021 that there was an engagement between Ghana,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

to secure COVID-19 vaccines.

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

and

Kumasi Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is the ...

were said by the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

to be the first places to receive the vaccines. On 24 February 2021, a shipment of 600,000

Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine The Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID19 vaccine, sold under the brand names Covishield and Vaxzevria among others, is a viral vector vaccine for prevention of COVID-19. Developed in the United Kingdom by Oxford University and British-Swedish comp ...

to Accra via

made it the first country in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

to receive vaccines via the initiative. The vaccination campaign began on 1 March 2021 as president Akufo-Addo received the first jab.

Vaccines on order

History

The United States Delivers COVID-19 Vaccine Doses to Ghana (51704049970)

Timeline

March 2021

On 1 March 2021, Ghana began its national vaccination program against COVID-19. By the end of the month more than half a million doses had been administered.

April 2021

Ghana received 350,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine which the Democratic Republic of Congo had been unable to use before the expiry date. By the end of the month 0.8 million doses had been administered.

May 2021

By the end of the month 1.2 million doses had been administered.

June 2021

By the end of the month 1.3 million doses had been administered.

September 2021

By the end of the month 1.6 million doses had been administered.

October 2021

Ghana received more than 1.5 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from Germany and half a million doses of the same vaccine from Denmark, Norway and Iceland. It also received 1.3 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine from the United States. By the end of the month three million doses had been administered. 7% of the targeted population had been fully vaccinated.

November 2021

By the end of the month 3.2 million doses had been administered. 7% of the targeted population had been fully vaccinated.

December 2021

By the end of the month 7.8 million doses had been administered. 18% of the targeted population had been fully vaccinated.

January 2022

By the end of the month 9.7 million doses had been administered. 27% of the targeted population had been fully vaccinated.

February 2022

By the end of the month 12.6 million doses had been administered and 4.9 million persons had been fully vaccinated.

March 2022

By the end of the month 14.2 million doses had been administered and 5.1 million persons had been fully vaccinated.

April 2022

By the end of the month 13 million doses had been administered and 5.8 million persons had been fully vaccinated.

Deployment

Rollout

WHO 20210302 GHANA COVAX STORIES 022 89326

According to the

Ghana Health Service The Ghana Health Service (GHS) is a Ghanaian government body established in 1996 as part of the Health Sector Reform of Ghana. The Health Service is under the Ministry of Health. The Health service primarily administrates the health services prov ...

, the COVID-19 vaccine would be free of charge for Ghanaians. Dr. Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, Director of Public Health at GHS, pregnant women and children below 16 years were exempted from the first phase of the vaccination exercise. The recipients of the first phase of the vaccination exercise which was to begin on 1 March 2021; were "health workers, adults 60 years and over, people with underlying health conditions, frontline Executive, Legislature, Judiciary and their related staff, frontline security personnel, some religious leaders and other personalities". On 1 March 2021, the President Nana Akufo-Addo and the

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

Bawumia were vaccinated first. By 2 March 2021, the vaccination program was launched in the

Ashanti region The Ashanti Region is located in southern part of Ghana and it is the third largest of 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of or 10.2 percent of the total land area of Ghana. In terms of population, however, it is the mo ...

which was the second Ghanaian region scheduled for the exercise. Over 10,000 people in the region had been vaccinated by 5 March 2021. The

Ghana COVID-19 Private Sector Fund Ghana COVID-19 Private Sector Fund is an initiative by the Government of Ghana (GOG) to help fight the novel corona virus pandemic. The fund was established by ten businessmen and women to raise GHC 100,000 to support the effort of the government b ...

partnered with the government to assist in the vaccination campaign. Security personnel such as Customs officials of GRA, officials of

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...

and the staff of VRA took part in the vaccination exercise on 6 March 2021. Members of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

also received the jabs of the vaccine. More than 60,300 health workers across were vaccinated on 11 March 2021 across the

Greater Accra The Greater Accra Region has the smallest area of Ghana's 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of 3,245 square kilometres. This is 1.4 per cent of the total land area of Ghana. It is the second most populated region, befor ...

, Ashanti and Central Region. The second doses for the AstraZeneca vaccine commenced on 19 May 2021. About 13,600 participants received their second shot.

Progress

Cumulative vaccinations

References

{{Africa topic, COVID-19 vaccination in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

Vaccination Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...