Ghana has become the first country to receive coronavirus vaccines through the Covax vaccine-sharing initiative. The World Health Organization (WHO) programme aims to ensure that vaccines are shared fairly among all nations. Covax is aiming to deliver about two billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines globally by the end of the year.
Many rich nations, who began their own vaccinations months ago, have faced criticism for buying or ordering more vaccines than they need. A total of 600,000 doses of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University arrived in Ghana’s capital Accra on Wednesday.
In a joint statement, the WHO and the United Nations children’s fund (Unicef) said it was a “momentous occasion”. The arrival of the Covid-19 vaccines into Ghana is critical in bringing the pandemic to an end,” they said. The West African country has recorded more than 80,700 cases of coronavirus and 580 deaths since the pandemic began. These numbers are believed to fall short of the actual toll because of low levels of testing.
The WHO and Unicef said the shipment represented “part of the first wave of Covid vaccines headed to several low and middle-income countries”.
Though the vaccines are not generally intended for children, Unicef is involved in the scheme because of its expertise in procurement and the logistics of vaccine delivery. So far, richer countries have been able to buy far more Covid jabs than poorer ones. The Covax scheme was set up by the WHO, the Gavi vaccines alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to try to prevent poorer countries from being pushed to the back of the queue.
The programme is designed so that richer countries buying vaccines agree to help finance access for poorer nations, too.
It hopes to deliver more than two billion doses to people in 190 countries in less than a year. In particular, it wants to ensure 92 poorer countries will receive access to vaccines at the same time as 98 wealthier countries. It aims to reach up to 20% of the populations of poorer countries, at no cost to their governments.
In other news – Somizi gifts his bestie, Vusi Nova a beautiful statue – Video
Somizi has really been spoiling his bestie Vusi Nova lately. The Idols SA judge and Metro FM DJ, gifted him with a brand new statue and the singer took to his Instagram account to show off the beautiful piece, sending a special shout out to his best friend.
Thank you to the bestie for this statue. Thank you Mizzy. Said Vusi Nova in a video showing off the gift. “Look at how beautiful she is – she just fits. Learn more
Source: BBC
