Accra, Oct 9, GNA – The United States (US) Government on Friday donated about 1.3 million doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to Ghana through the COVAX facility.
This brings to 2.5 million, the total number of vaccine doses the United States has donated to Ghana.
A Deputy Minister for Health, Ms Tina Mensah who received the donation, thanked the US government for its continues support to the containment of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana.
She said her ministry and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) will see to it that the vaccines were distributed nationwide to ensure that more eligible persons were vaccinated.
Presenting the vaccines, Madam Stephanie Sullivan, the US Ambassador to Ghana said vaccines were critical to defeating the pandemic.
She said the vaccines donated so far will help protect Ghanaians from serious illness, while other interventions were put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19.
“These are the same safe and effective vaccines used in the United States and the specialized syringes required for the Pfizer vaccine have already arrived in Ghana,” she said.
Madam Sullivan said the donations were part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s global efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
On September 22, President Biden announced that the United States was doubling its commitment to providing vaccines worldwide to 1.1 billion doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
The United States Government has already delivered more than 176 million doses to over 100 countries, including 36 million doses in Sub-Saharan Africa alone.
She said since March 2020, the United States Government, including elements of the Department of State, Department of Defence, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has provided more than $30 million to support Ghana’s COVID-19 response.
These funds have provided personal protective equipment and training for medical professionals, medical equipment and testing supplies, vaccine distribution planning and support, economic assistance for impacted clobbered communities.
Additionally, the US provided three new regional Public Health Emergency Operations Centres in Ghana, as well as educational support for Ghanaian students during the pandemic.
Madam Sullivan said the US will continue to support Ghana’s COVID-19 response and vaccination efforts, including the transportation of vaccines to health facilities, detailed logistical planning, and outreach activities to encourage uptake of WHO-approved COVID-19 vaccines.
GNA