Ghana is expected to take delivery of 300,000 Russian-made Sputnik V vaccines this week to get her vaccination programme back on track.

The country has struggled to keep to its plan following supply cuts in India.

The Asian country which is the main producer of AstraZeneca doses is currently struggling to cope with demand at home, following a significant surge in cases there.

Last week, Government assured that it is working assiduously to procure the next batch of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines to inoculate the section of Ghanaians whose second jab is due.

The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye had earlier explained that the delay in the procurement of additional vaccines is occasioned by the global scramble for vaccines and the unavailability of the same.

But speaking to journalists on the sidelines of an event to mark the 11th Africa Vaccination Week in Ghana, the Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu said he expects delivery of some 300,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccines this week.

“We’re making efforts to get into the country some Russia type Sputnik, though we have made initial approaches and expecting some Sputnik to come in. They demonstrated availability and brought in the first 160,000 which is kept there and waiting for about 300,000 to come.

“Sometime this week, we were expecting about 2-3 weeks but we have faced challenges with facility availability and payment structures and things like that, I believe sometime this week we may receive the 3,000,” he added.