The Ghana Health Service has indicated that the AstraZeneca and Sputnik V vaccines are effective against the deadly Indian strain of the Coronavirus detected in Ghana recently.
A statement issued by the GHS and signed by its Director-General, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye on Tuesday, 22 June 2021, in reaction to an online publication discrediting the potency of the two vaccines against the Delta variant detected at the Kotoka International Airport, noted that “reports that Sputnik-V and AstraZeneca vaccines are not effective against the Delta strain of SARS-Cov-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) are untrue”.
The statement said data from the Public Health England (PHE) shows that “two doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine are highly effective against hospitalisation due to the Delta variant and showed no deaths among those vaccinated.”
“A study conducted by Gamaleya Center suggests that Sputnik-V is more efficient against the Delta variant of coronavirus, first detected in India, compared to other COVID-19 vaccines,” the statement said.
“The data also suggest that the AstraZeneca vaccine is effective against symptomatic disease caused by the Delta variant,” GHS added.
The statement further reiterated the measures put in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus at the airport.
“All passengers who test positive are put under mandatory isolation”.
“All positive samples are sent for further testing (genomic sequencing) to identify the variants,” adding that: “Variants sequenced from samples of positive cases at the Airport do not necessarily end up in the community”.
The statement also disclosed that “as of now, the country has 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”.
The statement, however, said “no Delta variant has been detected from samples taken from cases in the community”.
