While the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic has got many Ghanaians sitting on tenterhooks, COVAX Global Supply Forecast has announced that the country will receive a total of 2,412,000 doses of the COVID 19 vaccines by the first and second quarters of this year.
Ghana, we understand, will get the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, licensed to Serum Institute of India (SII) – also known as the “AZ/SII” type of vaccine. In total, 240 million doses of the vaccine will be distributed to countries across the world to help fight the pandemic.
President Akufo-Addo assured Ghanaians in his last address to the nation that Ghana will take delivery of the first batch of the COVID 19 vaccines in March 2021. This piece of information comes as some relief to many Ghanaians since the rising numbers of COVID fatalities gives cause for concern.
Therefore, it is important to reiterate that while we the country awaits the first delivery of the vaccines, the best form of remedy against the pandemic in the meantime is to strictly observe the health protocols that are in place.
Also, the European Union Delegation to Ghana, in collaboration with the Fashion Connect Africa, is donating 10,000 reusable facemasks to four non-governmental organizations today. The donation is towards the fight against Covid-19.
The donation from the EU is associated with the One Million Facemask Initiative of Fashion Connect Africa and Victoria Michaels which intends to provide 1 Million Masks for vulnerable communities.
The country is indeed grateful for these humanitarian gestures which would go a long way in the fight against the novel pandemic. This means the issue of vulnerable persons unable to afford face masks to protect themselves will be a thing of the past.
The issue has come up strongly particularly as it is now mandatory to wear masks and some regions have taken advantage of the directive and increased the unit price of a face mask from GH₵1.00 to GH₵3.00. making it difficult for vulnerable persons to acquire them.
Thus, the donation from the EU would go some way to alleviate the plight of the extremely vulnerable in our society. Reusable masks provided a sustainable and environmentally friendly way to protect the population against Covid-19.
The AU has also secured 270 million doses from manufacturers for member states, and is poised to receive another 400 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. All this gives hope that sooner than later, this whole anxiety about the virus will become a thing of the past.
In the meantime, ours is to religiously observe the WHO protocols until better relief comes our way.
