The Chief Executive Officer at AstraZeneca, Pascal Soriot, says the delivery of the first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Ghana marks a major step forward in changing the course of the COVID-19 pandemic globally.

“This delivery is the first of many shipments of the AstraZeneca vaccine expected over the coming weeks and months via COVAX that will take us closer to ensuring broad and equitable access,” he said in a statement issued on February 24, 2021.

Ghana on Wednesday took delivery of 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India (Covishield).

It made Ghana the first country to receive the vaccine from the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (COVAX), which has 92 beneficiary countries signed on to it, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.

Read also: Ghana takes delivery of 600,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine

The AstraZeneca boss said “This delivery is the first of many shipments of the AstraZeneca vaccine expected over the coming weeks and months via COVAX that will take us closer to ensuring broad and equitable access.”

AstraZeneca is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialisation of prescription medicines, primarily for the treatment of diseases in three therapy areas - Oncology, Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism, and Respiratory and Immunology.

Based in Cambridge, UK, AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries and its innovative medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide.

Source: graphic.com.gh