African countries are starting mass Covid
inoculation drives using vaccines supplied
through a scheme set up to share doses fairly
with poorer nations.
Ivory Coast is one of the first to benefit from
the UN-backed Covax distribution initiative,
with injections beginning on Monday.
Ghana is also launching its vaccination drive
this week.
Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo on
Monday became the first to receive a
coronavirus vaccine through the scheme.
Mr Akufo-Addo urged people to get inoculated
and not to believe conspiracy theories casting
doubt on the programme, which will see some
600,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca
vaccine rolled out nationwide on Tuesday.
"It's 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," he said.
Africa's vaccine rollout gathers pace
The scheme to share doses with others
The rollout will initially focus on the most
vulnerable - those aged over 60 or with
serious underlying health issues - and
essential workers, such as medical
professionals, teachers, police and even some
journalists.
But pregnant women and those under the age
of 18 are not part of the vaccination
campaign. Authorities have said they do not
have enough data on the possible side effects
of the vaccines on such groups.
A message of assurance
By Thomas Naadi, BBC News, in Ghana
Nana Akufo Addo and his wife were
vaccinated in a ceremony broadcast live on
television to encourage other Ghanaians to
get their jabs.
Some Ghanaians have expressed misgivings
about the safety of the vaccines. While some
believe it is a ploy by the government to
reduce the country's population by making
them infertile, others think the vaccines might
be fake.
In a televised address to the nation on
Sunday, the president stressed that the
vaccines had been declared safe by the
country's Food and Drugs Authority (FDA),
and there was no reason to doubt their
safety. "Taking the vaccines will not alter your
DNA, it will not embed a tracking device in
your body, neither will it cause infertility in
women or men," he assured.
Ghana's FDA has also approved Russia's
Sputnik V vaccines for emergency use, and
the certification process is ongoing for other
vaccines.
The country is also exploring the possibility of
getting some local manufacturers the needed
licence to produce some of the existing
vaccines, while Ghanaian scientists are
working with their counterparts on the
continent to develop a vaccine.
In Ivory Coast, which has a similar rollout
programme, people began to queue at
vaccination centres early on Monday for their
first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
Nigeria is due to take delivery of nearly four
million doses of vaccine later this week.
Prof Gavin Yamey, who was involved in
setting up the Covax programme, said there
was a "huge need" to distribute vaccines
worldwide.
"It has been rather depressing watching rich
nations essentially just clear the shelves," he
said, adding: "It's been absolutely a kind of me
first, me only vaccine grab, and that's not just
incredibly unfair, it's also terrible public
health."
Vaccination programmes have been slow to
get off the ground in Africa, but the continent
has reported relatively few cases and deaths
in comparison with many western countries.
The Covax scheme hopes to deliver more
than two billion doses to people in 190
countries in less than a year.
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