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Foreign Minister defends Ghana’s position in purchasing controversial Sputnik V vaccines

Shirley Ayorkor Botchway.
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Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway has justified government’s decision to use a middleman in the procurement of the Sputnik V Vaccine.

According to her, it is almost impossible to get the vaccines at the governmental level. Ghana has been cited in an investigative report in a Norwegian newspaper VG for agreeing to procure the Sputnik V vaccines from a businessman at a unit price of $19 instead of $10, almost double the factory price.

The Ministry of Health has justified the purchase emphasizing that negotiations were held at a time of scarcity of the products across the globe.

The statement by the Ministry said Government was torn between accepting the price to enable Ghana have access to the vaccine or face the situation of the seller withdrawing from the negotiations to the extent that the 15,000 doses that had been shipped to Ghana were going to be rerouted to other countries.

The statement adds that government was unable to obtain direct supplies of the vaccines from the Russian government and so had to resort to one Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the supplies.

The revelation has received backlash from Ghanaians who criticize government for agreeing to buy the vaccines at such an exorbitant price. The Minority in Parliament has even said it will drag the Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman Manu to the House to explain the rationale behind government’s decision, describing the purchase as a rip-off.

But speaking to the issue at a news conference yesterday, Foreign Affairs Minister said it is almost impossible to purchase the vaccines from the manufacturers.

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