The St. John of God Hospital Amrahia staff in the Greater Accra were administered the Covax AstraZeneca/ Oxford vaccine on the 1st and 7th March, 2021.
The Covax AstraZeneca/ Oxford vaccine was produced and licensed to the Serum Institute of India. The initial quantity supplied to Ghana was 600,000 vaccines however according to the government there are plans to deliver close to 2 billion doses within this year.
Staff at the St. John of God hospital received the vaccine through the Adenta Municipal Health directorate. Vaccinators were brought to the hospital and staff got in line to receive their first shot of the vaccines. Staff who have been vaccinated are awaiting the second phase of the exercise.
The vaccine begins the way to recovery as 90,287 Ghanaians have been affected by the Covid-19 virus and 7740 lives have been lost according to the Ghana Health Service as at 24th March 2021. According to the UNICEF Representative in Ghana, Anne-Claire Dufay and WHO Representative to Ghana, Dr. Francis Kasolo, “The only way out of this crisis [Covid-19 Pandemic] is to ensure that vaccinations are available for all.”
Eligible people to receive the vaccine include healthcare workers, frontline security personnel, persons with underlying conditions, people aged 60 years and above, and frontline members of the executive, legislature and judiciary of the Parliament of Ghana.
As healthcare workers and other frontline staff receive the vaccine, there is hope that normalcy, including better access to health will be achieved.
