President Nana Akufo-Addo has said Ghana shall not then, in the future, be at the mercy of foreign vaccine nationalism and geopolitics.
He noted that Last year, a Vaccine Manufacturing Committee was set up, under the chairmanship of the world-renowned Ghanaian scientist, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, which will, soon, be transformed by Act of Parliament into the National Vaccine Institute.
Nana Akufo-Addo said Government had committed twenty-five million dollars ($25 million) to develop our domestic vaccine production capability, and facilitate the capacity of domestic pharmaceutical companies to fill, finish and package mRNA COVID-19, malaria, tuberculosis, and other vaccines, as the first step towards vaccine production.
The President said his Administration wants to achieve self-sufficiency in vaccine production to meet future national, regional, and continental needs for health security.
“Fellow Ghanaians, we have reached a critical point in our fight against COVID-19. The government has undertaken a comprehensive review of the raft of measures put in place to help win the fight against the virus. This review is premised on the background of rapidly declining infections, the relative success of the vaccination campaign being supervised by the Ghana Health Service, and the increased capacity developed in the public and private health sectors over the last two (2) years.”
“Whilst appreciating COVAX and other donors in COVID-19 vaccine supply initiatives, and Government also procuring further vaccine consignments through AU and AVATT initiatives, Ghana, Rwanda, and Senegal, in partnership with the German biotechnology company, BioNTech SE, are venturing into vaccine development and manufacturing, with the three countries determined to become vaccine manufacturing hubs in sub-Saharan Africa.”
Source: Mybrytnewsroom.com/Kofi Atakora
