President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana on Monday received coronavirus vaccine from Covax, a global scheme to procure and distribute inoculations for free for indigent countries.
It made Ghana the first recipient of the COVID-19 vaccine globally.
Since the discovery of vaccines for the deadly virus, richer countries have procured vaccines for their citizens while many poorer countries are still hopeful of receiving their first vaccine doses.
“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,” Ghana’s president said before receiving a shot of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in a live broadcast.
Also, the first lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo received a shot, one day before the rest of the 600,000 doses are deployed across the country.
Recall that Ghana’s food and drug authority last month authorised the Indian-made vaccine and Russia’s Sputnik V, as the government aims to target 20 of its 30 million population by year’s end.