Claim: It is difficult to find 4 or 5 countries ahead of Ghana in vaccination
Source: Dr Bernard Okoe-Boye
Verdict: FALSE
Researched by Gifty Tracy Aminu
A former Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Bernard Okoe-Boye claims Ghana is one of the leading African countries in terms of COVID-19 vaccines administered.
This comes amid concerns that Africa is set to miss the urgent global goal of vaccinating the most vulnerable 10% of every country’s population against COVID-19 by the end of September.
“If you do the top 5 vaccinations in Africa in terms of countries, it will be difficult to find 4 or 5 countries ahead of Ghana,” Dr Okoe-Boye said during a discussion on the “Good Morning Ghana” TV programme on Metro TV on September 2, 2021, between minutes 59:00 and 59:40.
According to him, aside from South Africa, Ghana’s performance with vaccination is either the best or one of the best in terms of Africa.
“Ghana’s performance with vaccination is either the best or one of the best in terms of Africa because we are not producing. Generally, Africa, it is only South Africa that is more or less an out layer because they have the fill and finish plant for Johnson and Johnson.”
GhanaFact was alerted to the claim after it was republished on the official Twitter handle of Metro TV. So, we sought to verify whether Ghana is one of the top 6 African countries in terms of COVID-19 vaccination?
If we take 5 countries from Africa whose vaccination is high, it’ll be difficult to get 4 countries ahead of Ghana – @OkoeBoye #GoodMorningGhana
— Metropolitan Television (@metrotvgh) September 2, 2021
Fact-check
Ghana ranks seventeenth (17) on the African continent in terms of vaccines administered, according to available data from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
With a total population of about 31 million, the country has received more than 2.1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines which is just about 3.39% of the population.
About 2.78% of the Ghanaian population has so far received the first dose, while 1.31% have been fully vaccinated.
The available data on Ghana in relation to COVID-19 vaccines administered is consistent with information from the Ghana Health Service COVID-19 and the World Health Organization COVID-19 dashboard.
Meanwhile, across West Africa, Ghana ranks 4th after Nigeria, Senegal and Cote D’Ivoire in terms of vaccines administered.
The table below ranks African countries in terms of COVID-19 vaccination
| African Countries | Vaccine administered |
| 1. Morocco | 33, 319, 941 |
| 2. South Africa | 15, 300, 902 |
| 3. Egypt | 9, 391, 465 |
| 4. Tunisia | 5, 723, 496 |
| 5. Zimbabwe | 4, 219, 203 |
| 6. Nigeria | 3, 938, 945 |
| 7. Kenya | 2, 792, 309 |
| 8. Ethiopia | 2, 501, 920 |
| 9. Algeria | 2, 500, 000 |
| 10. Rwanda | 2, 174, 283 |
| 11. Mozambique | 1, 960, 320 |
| 12. Angola | 1, 841, 568 |
| 13. Senegal | 1, 732, 362 |
| 14. Mauritius | 1, 564, 974 |
| 15. Cote D’Ivoire | 1, 528, 974 |
| 16. Uganda | 1, 297, 726 |
| 17. Ghana | 1, 271, 393 |
Source: Africa CDC
“I speak based on our capacity and what I know we are doing. These things can change. Today you can be 7th and tomorrow you will move.” Dr Bernard Okoe-Boye told GhanaFact when contacted about our findings.
Verdict
Therefore, the claim that Ghana is either the best or one of the best in terms of vaccination in Africa at the time the claim was made is inaccurate and it is wrong to suggest that “If you do the top 5 vaccinations in Africa in terms of countries, it will be difficult to find 4 or 5 countries ahead of Ghana.”
