Africa as a whole has suffered comparatively less deaths from the novel coronavirus compared to many industrialized nations, for reasons still not entirely clear. However, if global vaccination trends are not reversed, the continent’s deaths could continue long after they decline in other places.
Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire launched their COVID-19 vaccination drives on Monday, the first on the planet to use vaccines provided by the World Health Organization’s COVAX program.
“It is important that I set the example that this vaccine is safe by being the first to have it, so that everybody in Ghana can feel comfortable about taking this vaccine,” said 76-year-old Akufo-Addo, who won a second term in December, during a live broadcast in which he received the shot. He tested positive for COVID-19 in April 2020.
“We will not end the pandemic anywhere unless we end it everywhere,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a press release last week. “Today is a major first step towards realizing our shared vision of vaccine equity, but it’s just the beginning. We still have a lot of work to do with governments and manufacturers to ensure that vaccination of health workers and older people is underway in all countries within the first 100 days of this year.”
Ghana’s Health Ministry has also separately registered the Sputnik V vaccine, which was developed in Russia and was the world’s first. The government hopes to have two-thirds of its 30-million-strong population vaccinated by year’s end, although COVAX will cover just 6 million Ghanians, according to AFP.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
