Richer countries have surged ahead with inoculating their population, but many poorer countries are still awaiting their first vaccine doses.

“It is 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,” the 76-year old president said before receiving a shot of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in a live broadcast.

The first lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo also received a shot, one day before the rest of the 600,000 doses are deployed across the country.

Ghana’s food and drug authority last month authorised the Indian-made vaccine and Russia’s Sputnik V, as the government aims to target 20 of its 30 million population by year’s end.

Last Wednesday, Ghana was the first country to receive vaccines from Covax, led by Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

Some 145 participating economies are set to receive 337.2 million doses by mid-year — enough to vaccinate a little over three per cent of their combined populations.

Covax has said it hopes to raise the figure to up to 27 per cent in lower-income countries by the end of December.

Ghana has recorded 84,023 COVID-19  cases and 607 deaths since the start of the pandemic, although the true figure is believed to be higher because of lack of testing.

Abban disclosed that the deceased is a male trader who reported to a health facility in Kumasi with a fever and cough. He was confirmed as a carrier of the virus on March 19, 2020.

The Minister said “The information I got from the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service is that, that person [the Lebanese man] has died. He died today.”

In a televised address on Saturday March 21, President Nana Akufo-Addo announced the closure of all borders to human traffic to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Goods, supplies and cargo will not be affected by the closure.

President Nana said “All our borders, that is, by land, sea and air, will be closed to human traffic for the next two weeks beginning midnight on Sunday. Anybody who comes into the country before on Sunday will be mandatorily quarantined and tested for the virus.”