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A flight carrying 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine has arrived in Ghana as part of a global effort to immunise the world's poorest people. The delivery comes eight months after the launch of the COVAX initiative - the World Health Organisation's (WHO) sharing scheme which is aimed at ensuring global vaccine equity. The shots will be used to kick-start a vaccination drive that will prioritise frontline health workers and others at high risk, according to a plan presented by Ghanaian health officials. Live COVID updates from the UK and around the world "This is a momentous occasion, as the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines into Ghana is critical in bringing the pandemic to an end," Anne-Claire Dufay of UNICEF Ghana, and WHO country representative, Francis Kasolo, said in a statement. Advertisement "These 600,000 COVAX vaccines are part of an initial tranche of deliveries." They added the shots paid for by the scheme … [Read more...] about COVID-19: Ghana receives 600,000 free vaccine doses as part of global scheme

Vincent Keymer isn't the type of individual to be easily sidetracked – not by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has put a stop to chess players sitting across the board from one another, and not by the high hopes the German chess community is placing in the 16-year-old. "External pressure has never been much of a problem for me," the student from the small town of Saulheim in western Germany told DW. "If I were to start trying to live up to the expectations of others, I would lose control over my own destiny." Seven hours against Magnus Carlsen The youngster, seen as the greatest talent Germany has produced in half a century, has been steadily climbing the competitive chess ladder. Keymer first beat a grandmaster at the age of 10 and at 14 he earned the title of grandmaster himself – becoming the youngest-ever German to do so. By then he had already sat opposite world champion Magnus Carlsen for the first time – in the first round of a the Grenke Chess Open in Karlsruhe during … [Read more...] about German chess prodigy Vincent Keymer: ‘External pressure has never been a problem’

Ghana on Wednesday became the first country to receive vaccines through the COVAX initiative with a delivery of 600,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab. The shipment is part of a first wave of free deliveries headed to dozens of low- and middle-income countries under COVAX, a UN-backed scheme that aims to ensure fair access to COVID-19 vaccines . Immunization campaign to start next week The shots, which were produced by the Serum Institute of India, will be used by Ghana to launch a vaccination drive on March 2. "The first segment of the population that will receive the 600,000 doses will be health workers, adults 60 years and over, people with underlying health conditions," the government said. The West African country of 30 million people has recorded more than 80,700 coronavirus cases and 584 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to the local health authority. Watch video 02:46 Share COVAX vaccine program struggles Send … [Read more...] about Coronavirus: Ghana becomes first country to receive COVAX vaccines