The Ministry of Health has debunked claims of procuring Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines at a higher price.

An investigative report by Norwegian newspaper VG, revealed that the Ghana government bought the vaccines at $19 per dose despite global competitive prices hovering around $10.

But a statement signed by the Ministry indicated that the government rather succeeded in negotiating the price of the Sputnik V vaccine downward.

“The initial price quoted was US$25, but this was negotiated downwards to US$19.

“This is the result of the cost  build-up  to the ex-factory price US$ 10 per dose, taking into account land transportation, ship, insurance, handling and special storage charges, as explained by the seller.

“These are the factors which led us to agree the final price of US$19 per dose,” the statement noted.

According to the statement, “the MoH has, since early this year, made several efforts to procure the Sputnik V vaccine directly by engaging the Russian authorities, such as the Russian Prime Minister, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the CEO of Russia Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), and the CEO of Limited Liability Company ‘Human Vaccine’”.

“Meetings were also held with the Deputy Ambassador of Russia in Ghana”.

“The MoH also engaged individual Ghanaians and companies for the supply of various types of COVID-19 vaccines”.

“Unfortunately, none of these efforts have yielded any results till date,” it added.

The statement however noted that the Ministry had to resort to “indirect” channels to procure the vaccines when it did not succeed with the Russian government.

“Against the background of non-response from direct channels and global shortages of the vaccine, the MoH, on 9th March 2021, responded to an offer from the private office of H.H. Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the supply of a total quantity of 3.4 million doses of Sputnik V vaccines, at a unit cost of US$19,” the statement said.

Find the full statement below: