Ghana is expected to receive a loan of US$120 million from the World Bank to help tackle the ravaging coronavirus pandemic.
The facility is part of ongoing support from the World Bank Group for more than 100 countries in the fight against the disease.
Appearing before Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Wednesday, the Minister for Health-designate, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, disclosed that government will soon receive the support.
The additional financing will support the government to scale up its efforts to mitigate the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic and to shore up the economy.
Mr. Agyeman-Manu also revealed that by March, the country will take delivery of 355,000 AstraZeneca vaccines, with plans to procure vaccines for an estimated 20m people.
He said Ghana opted for the AstraZeneca vaccine because it can be stored under normal room temperature, as against other vaccines that require storage under negative temperatures.
Ghana presently has over 6,000 active cases of Covid-19 and has recorded 482 deaths. The upsurge in cases has forced many government institutions to rotate their staff, with Parliament, where a number of MPs have tested positive, shutting down for three weeks.