The Ghana Health Service (GHS) says reports suggesting that Sputnik-V and AstraZeneca vaccines are ineffective against the Delta strain of SARS-Cov-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) are untrue.
“According to Public Health England (PHE) two doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine are highly effective against hospitalisation due to the Delta variant and showed no deaths among those vaccinated,” it said in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, on Tuesday .
“The data also suggest that the AstraZeneca vaccine is effective against symptomatic disease caused by the Delta variant.”
This statement was signed by Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, Director-General, GHS.
It said a study conducted by Gamaleya Center suggested that, Sputnik-V was more efficient against the Delta variant of
coronavirus, first detected in India, compared to other COVID-19 vaccines.
The statement said in the midst of global supply shortages, the MOH and GHS were diligently working with Government to ensure that adequate vaccines were procured to protect the population.
“The MOH, GHS and the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) are working collaboratively to ensure that vaccines that come into the country
are safe and effective,” it stated.
It, therefore, urged the citizenry to take advantage of the vaccination when their turn was due and entreated the public to adhere to the COVID-19 prevention protocols – wearing of face masks, practicing of hand hygiene and physical distancing.
The statement said as of now, the country had detected six Delta variants of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19 virus) from all samples
taken between April and June, 2021 at the ports of entry.
However, no Delta variant had been detected from samples taken from cases in the community.
It said though there was a surge in cases at the Airport in April this year during, which period 308 positives were identified, Ghana had not experienced a third wave “partly due to the robust surveillance system in place at the ports of entry and strict isolation of all cases detected.”
The statement said all passengers who tested positive at Kotoka International Airport (KIA) were put under mandatory isolation and samples sent for further testing (genomic sequencing) to identify the variants.
It also said variants sequenced from samples of positive cases at the Airport did not necessarily end up in the community.
