The government of Ghana has taken delivery of 1,229,620 million doses of Moderna vaccines from the United States through COVAX.
The United States ambassador to Ghana, Madam Stephanie Sullivan in her remarks said “vaccines, along with other preventive protocols, will help control the pandemic and slow the development of new variants”.
She added that “the united States government is committed to leading the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic and accelerating global vaccine distribution as the World’s largest single donor to COVAX”.
Mr. Yaw Boakye-Donkor of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) at Kotoka International Airport (KIA), imports and exports said the vaccines will be taken to the FDA laboratory and until the results are validated, the vaccines will not be release to the Ghana Health Service for use.
The United States has already delivered over 125 million doses to more than 80 countries, including 26 million doses in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the United States has contributed more than 30 million dollars to Ghana’s Covid-19 response, building on decades of partnership in the health sector between the U.S and Ghanaian governments.
Madam Stephanie Sullivan said the U.S support to Ghana is to address the immediate and medium-term effects of the pandemic on the health, agriculture, and education sectors, as well as to support the hard-hit private sector.
According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), evidence from clinical trial in people aged 18 years and older, the Moderna vaccine was 94.1% effective at preventing laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection in people who received two doses and had no evidence of being previously infected.
The vaccine was also highly effective in clinical trials at preventing COVID-19 among people of diverse age, sex, race, and ethnicity categories and among people with underlying medical conditions.
Similarly, side effects that happen within 7 days of getting vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine were common but were mostly mild to moderate. Few people had reactions that affected their ability to do daily activities.
Side effects throughout the body (such as fever, chills, tiredness, and headache) were more common after the second dose of the vaccine.
