COVID-19 Vaccination: We’ll Prioritize Persons Due For Second Jab – GHS

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has said the AstraZeneca vaccines brought into the country last week will be administered to individuals who are due for their second jabs.

According to the GHS, however, not every person who got the first jab qualifies for the second jab.

In an interview, Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye said individuals who have reached the 12-week period after the first jab will be prioritized.

He said GHS has the data of all persons who qualify to receive their second jabs.

“We have the information and data of those who took their vaccines early and as we speak, not everybody is even qualified to get the second dose because it depends on when you had your first dose.”

“So we are going to follow the same routine to ensure that those who are due and those who are closest to the 12 weeks will be our priority until everybody is done,” he said.

Ghana on Friday, May 7, 2021, took delivery of 350,000 additional doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from the Democratic Republic of Congo through the COVAX initiative.

The GHS intends to begin administering the second dose by the middle of May 2021.

When did Ghana’s vaccination exercise start?

Ghana’s mass vaccination against the coronavirus begun on March 2, 2021, with the deployment of 600,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines which were manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.

In addition to the COVAX support, Ghana received 50,000 AstraZeneca vaccines from the Indian government and 165,000 from MTN.

Ghana has so far vaccinated close to 900,000 persons against the virus, according to the Ghana Health Service.