Ghana has become the first country in the world to receive free coronavirus vaccines through the COVAX scheme. This marks the start of the largest vaccine-sharing scheme in history.
The COVAX scheme is organised by the World Health Organization (WHO) and is supported by the United Nations. COVAX is designed to make sure that all countries in the world have fair and equal access to the medicine they need to tackle Covid-19, regardless of how rich they are.
In less than a year, COVAX aims to deliver more than two billion vaccine doses in 190 countries. It wants to ensure that 92 poorer countries get vaccines at the same time as 98 richer countries. However, there has been criticism of the scheme. Some say the target is unrealistic and that COVAX cannot provide enough vaccines to protect everyone worldwide from the virus.
Ghana began vaccinating its population on 2 March. Ivory Coast has also received COVAX vaccines and Nigeria was due to get four million doses.
