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General news for Saturday 13 February 2021
Source: FM class
02/13/2021
Ghana expected to have new vaccines by March 2021
It will cost Ghana a minimum of $ 180 million to procure COVID-19 vaccines against the virus for 60% of the population, the World Bank has said.
The estimate is based on the World Health Organization (WHO) protocol, which requires countries to vaccinate at least 60% of their population to achieve herd immunity – indirect protection against the virus for all citizens.
World Bank Country Director Pierre Frank Laporte, who spoke to the Daily Graphic in Accra last Tuesday, said the bank was willing and ready to provide the amount to the government by April this year. when a formal request has been made.
He said, however, that the amount could change when official negotiations begin.
AstraZeneca vaccines
Even before the start of formal negotiations between the government and the World Bank, the Minister-designate of Health, Mr. Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, revealed last Wednesday that the government had ordered 355,000 AstraZeneca vaccines in Europe, which he said will be available by mid-March of this year.
Mr. Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, who appeared before the Parliamentary Appointments Committee (ACP), said the government had made arrangements to cover more than 20 million Ghanaians.
He said the government was receiving financial support from COVAX, a global alliance of governments and vaccine producers, and the African Union (AU).
Expanded budget
At the same time, a source close to the presidency said that while an estimated $ 180-200 million was needed to procure the vaccines, this did not reflect the cost of the entire exercise. mass vaccination which could be three times the amount needed to procure the vaccines.
He said the government has yet to set the exact amount needed for the entire immunization exercise, which includes storage, regulatory costs, transportation and distribution across the country.
“Mass vaccination is labor intensive and it is not an ordinary drug that can be administered behind the counter, so it will require stretching the entire workforce to be deployed in all areas. regions of the country for this exercise “
The mode of transport of these vaccines will also require special arrangement to keep them safe and effective under the climatic conditions of the country, and all of this will automatically increase the cost of the exercise, ”he added.
Collective immunity
When asked why Ghana is targeting 60% of the entire population to receive the vaccine, the source explained that with viruses, it was believed that vaccinating around 60% of the population could lead to herd immunity. .
“He believed that when 60% of the population is vaccinated, there will be less virus in the system and this could lead to herd immunity.
Herd immunity is a form of indirect protection against infectious diseases that can occur with certain diseases when a sufficient percentage of a population has become immune to an infection, whether through vaccination or previous infections, to reduce the risk of infection for people who have no immunity.
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