Ghana approves Russia's Sputnik V vaccine for emergency use

Ghana has through the Ministry of Health been granted an approval for use of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine to fight against the pandemic.

The approval was granted under an emergency use authorization,vthe Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said on Saturday, February 20, 2021.

Ghana will now become the 31st country to use the Russian vaccine and the fifth nation to use Russia’s Sputnik V on the African continent.

CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Kirill Dmitriev said: “Ministry of Health of Ghana has thoroughly reviewed the data on safety and efficacy of Sputnik V also proven by publication in The Lancet and approved the use of the vaccine.

“This is another positive example of vaccine cooperation between Russia and partners across the world to save lives and protect the population.”

On Friday February 19, Ghana's Health Ministry at a press briefing reiterated plans to vaccinate some 20 million Ghanaians once the vaccines become available.

Additionally, Ghana is in line to receive a total of 2,412,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines under the COVAX platform.

According to the Health Minister-designate, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, Ghana will be supplied with the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, licensed to Serum Institute of India (SII) – referred to as “AZ/SII.”

It is estimated that Ghana could receive approximately 965,000 doses of the vaccine by end of March 2021 at least. It would however not be the only procurement of vaccines the Government of Ghana intends to receive. Read Full Story