A total of 4.4 million doses out of 400 million of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been delivered to 26 member states.

It was delivered through African Union (AU), Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) together with the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT).

Dr. John Nkengasong, Director, Africa CDC, in a statement made available to Ghana News Agency in Tema on Thursday said the vaccines were procured by the Africa CDC.

"A total of 12,000 doses were also delivered to the African Union Commission to vaccinate its staff members and the African Union ambassadors.

Dr Nkengasong noted that Africa CDC and partners were set to move a step further to reaching their target of vaccinating at least 60 per cent of the population, as they continue to lead the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic on the African continent.

He said through the AVAT, several African countries continued to receive vaccines from all over the world, as the fight against the pandemic continued.

Dr. Nkengasong, commended India and other countries for their efforts in the fight against COVID-19; "as you might have heard, the government of India will release and export vaccines come October.

"We welcome the good news because it will help us meet our target of vaccinating at least 60 per cent of the African population by the end of next year."

He added that, "more donations continue to arrive on the continent. Norway has donated about 400,000 vaccines of AstraZeneca to Uganda, 124,000 to Zambia, and this brings the total that Norway has donated, to 726,000.

"Germany has also donated more than eight million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines."