Geneva / Accra / Abidjan, 1 March 2021 — The first COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in Africa using COVAX-provided doses began today in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, marking a watershed moment in the global effort to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and launching what WHO described as "the largest, most rapid and complex global rollout of vaccines in history."
The campaigns followed deliveries to both countries the previous week: Ghana received 600,000 doses on 24 February, and Côte d'Ivoire received 504,000 doses two days later. Both countries received the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine licensed and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) under the brand name COVISHIELD, which had been granted Emergency Use Listing (EUL) by the World Health Organization on 15 February 2021.
The doses were provided through the Gavi COVAX Advanced Market Commitment (AMC), the COVAX Facility's mechanism for supplying donor-funded vaccines to lower-income countries.
A Moment of Multilateral Cooperation
Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, who was among the first to receive the vaccine publicly, framed the moment as a testament to international solidarity.
"COVID-19 has changed the world. It has cost lives, battered health systems, and damaged livelihoods. But, through these challenges, we have seen the best of humanity exemplified through strong multilateral cooperation. Ghana welcomes the arrival of the first doses of COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX AMC as a pathway to ending the acute phase of the pandemic."
The first doses in Ghana were prioritized for healthcare workers and other at-risk groups, in line with WHO guidance aimed at maximizing the public health benefit of limited initial supplies.
Correcting a Glaring Inequity
The COVAX deliveries to Africa came against a backdrop of profound global vaccine inequity. By early March 2021, the vast majority of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered worldwide had been in high-income countries, while many low- and middle-income nations had yet to receive a single dose.
Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, described the moment as "a welcome shift towards bringing African countries off the sidelines and back into the vaccination race, correcting the glaring inequity which has been an unfortunate hallmark of the global vaccine rollout to date."
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that the moment was the fruit of more than 12 months of labor but cautioned that much remained to be done.
"This is only the beginning of what COVAX was set up to achieve. We have a lot left to do to realize our vision to start vaccination in all countries within the first 100 days of the year. There are just 40 days left."
The COVAX Architecture
COVAX — the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator — is co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and WHO, working in partnership with UNICEF as well as the World Bank, manufacturers, and civil society organizations.
Each partner plays a distinct role: CEPI focuses on vaccine research and development, having secured first right of refusal to over one billion doses for the COVAX Facility. Gavi coordinates procurement and delivery through the COVAX Facility and the Gavi COVAX AMC. WHO provides normative guidance on vaccine policy, regulation, safety, and allocation, while UNICEF leverages its experience as the world's largest single vaccine buyer to procure and supply doses.
José Manuel Barroso, Chair of Gavi, emphasized the economic dimension of vaccine equity: "Nowadays vaccine policy is the best economic policy."
A Race Against Variants
The start of Africa's COVAX-driven immunization came as new COVID-19 variants were spreading globally, underscoring the urgency of equitable vaccine access. Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, warned that the emergence of variants made global access more critical than ever.
"In the coming days and weeks, COVAX will begin to redress the global imbalance in vaccine deployment, but there is still much to do. The spread of new COVID-19 variants means global access to vaccines is more important than ever before, and the global community must remain firmly focused on this goal if we are to bring the pandemic to an end."
UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore described the moment as proof of what the international community can accomplish when working as one: "This proves what we can accomplish when we all — the private sector, UN and development agencies, governments, donors, and other partners — work as one."
The Road Ahead
At the time of the first African COVAX vaccinations, 11 million additional doses were expected to be delivered over the following seven days, with first-round allocations covering the majority of COVAX Facility participants anticipated to be published on 2 March 2021. The scale of the challenge remained enormous: preparing health systems for mass vaccination campaigns, establishing cold chain infrastructure, training health workers, and countering vaccine hesitancy — all while the pandemic continued to surge across the continent.
The deliveries to Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire represented not just the arrival of vaccines, but the activation of a global solidarity mechanism designed to ensure that life-saving tools reached the most vulnerable, regardless of where they lived.
Sources
- World Health Organization, "First COVID-19 COVAX vaccine doses administered in Africa," 1 March 2021
- WHO, "COVID-19 vaccine doses shipped by the COVAX Facility head to Ghana, marking beginning of global roll-out," 24 February 2021
- Gavi, "COVID-19 vaccine doses shipped by the COVAX Facility head to Ghana, marking beginning of global roll-out," 24 February 2021
- United Nations, "Ghana receives first historic shipment of COVID-19 vaccinations through COVAX," 24 February 2021
FIRAT Editorial Board
Institutional Research Desk · Foresight Institute of Research and Translation
The collective editorial and research translation board of FIRAT, synthesising peer-reviewed evidence, policy briefs, and division milestones across our seven foundational research pillars.
