Ghana receives first batch of MTN-donated COVID-19 vaccines

By Reuters

Airport workers transfer COVID-19 vaccines at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, capital of Ghana, Feb. 24, 2021. (Ministry of Information of Government of Ghana/Handout via Xinhua)

The first 165,000 of up to 7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses that MTN Group is donating to African countries have arrived in Ghana, the South African telecoms company said on Tuesday.

MTN is donating $25 million to support the African Union’s vaccination program. The vaccines are intended to be distributed to health workers across the AU’s 55 member states.

The first doses, of AstraZeneca’s vaccine, arrived in Ghana on Sunday, MTN said in a statement. The initial contribution offered “some very welcome relief”, it quoted Ghana’s Health Minister Kwaku Agyeman-Manu as saying.

African countries have only begun vaccinating their citizens in recent weeks after richer countries secured early supplies.

The continent is relying primarily on free doses from the global COVAX vaccine-sharing facility, which aims to inoculate 20% of the population by the end of the year.