The first shipment of COVAX vaccines

Historic images of the first delivery of COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX Facility to Ghana and of the operation in India and Dubai that led to this milestone.

UNICEF
24 February 2021
On 24 February 2021, a plane carrying the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines distributed by the COVAX Facility lands at Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana's capital.
UNICEF/UN0421466/Kokoroko/COVAX

Ghana is the first recipient of a shipment of COVAX Facility vaccines. On 24 February 2021, 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine licensed to Serum Institute of India arrived in Accra, Ghana.

On 24 February 2021, a plane carrying the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines distributed by the COVAX Facility lands at Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana's capital.
UNICEF/UN0421472/Kokoroko/COVAX

“This is a momentous occasion, as the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines into Ghana is critical in bringing the pandemic
to an end."

UNICEF Representative in Ghana, Anne-Claire Dufay

On 24 February 2021, a UNICEF staff inspects the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines distributed by the COVAX Facility at Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana's capital.
UNICEF/UN0421459/Kokoroko/COVAX

The arrival in Accra is the first batch shipped and delivered in Africa by the COVAX Facility as part of an unprecedented effort to make 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines available for delivery by the end of 2021.

COVAX logos on first shipment of COVAX vaccine
UNICEF/UN0421461/Kokoroko/COVAX

Flight from Mumbai

The vaccines arrived on a flight from Mumbai, via Dubai, where a shipment of syringes from the UNICEF stockpile was waiting. The two consignments were loaded onto a new plane that transported them to Ghana.

In India, on 23 February 2021, an employee arranges and packs vials of COVID-19 vaccines at the packing and dispatch department at a manufacturer in Pune, a city located in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.
UNICEF/UN0420461/Krishnan

The day before the arrival in India, on 23 February 2021, an employee arranges and packs vials of COVID-19 vaccines at the packing and dispatch department at a manufacturer in Pune, a city located in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.

 

In India, on 23 February 2021, an employee packs and prepares for shipment a box containing COVID-19 vaccines for the COVAX facility at a manufacturer in Pune, a city located in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.
UNICEF/UN0420498/Krishnan

The AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccines shipped to Ghana were then packed and safely transported to Ghana in refrigerated trucks and planes.

In India, on 23 February 2021, a forklift operator loads a refrigerator truck with boxes containing COVID-19 vaccines for the COVAX facility at a manufacturer in Pune, a city located in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.
UNICEF/UN0420434/Krishnan