The administration of the second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccines is set to commence on the 19th May, 2021.
According to the Ghana Health Service, administering the second doses of the vaccine will be to the segmented groups who received their first doses in March.
Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, Director of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service said;Ghana would be able to deploy the 350,000 vaccines in a few days.
“We will be getting in touch with people to come for their second doses;through test messages, calls and public announcements.”
Dr. Aseidu-Bekoe
Dr. Aseidu-Bekoe also disclosed that the vaccines received from Congo would expire on June 24, approximately seven weeks from now. He explained that Congo’s consignment was shipped to Ghana after it failed to utilize them weeks after receiving them.
“The vaccine we received today from Congo is part of the first batch we received in February. COVAX re-allocated them to Ghana because Congo has not been able to utilize theirs.”
Dr. Aseidu-Bekoe
He said government is expecting that by June or July, there would be a reasonable amount of vaccines;available to vaccinate the public as it remained focused on its target to vaccinate 20 million Ghanaians at the end of the year.
The Director of Public Health further averred the vaccine gave a level of protection by reducing severe infections and deaths from the coronavirus. However, he posited that it is not a hundred per cent;guarantee of protection against the virus. Also
Adhere to COVID protocols
He, therefore, advised the public to keep adhering to the COVID-19 safety protocols by wearing face masks, using alcohol-based hand sanitizers, coughing or sneezing into tissues and washing of hands with soap under running water. Also
The exercise, which would be undertaken in 43 selected districts across the country,;will once again cover frontline health workers, adults of 60 years and above, frontline government officials, media practitioners, frontline workers in the formal sector and persons with underlining health conditions who took the first jab.
This follows Ghana taking delivery of some additional of 350,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines at;the Kotoka International Airport, from the Democratic Republic of Congo under the Covax facility, in the early hours of Friday, May 7.
Receiving the vaccines on behalf of the government, Chief Director of the Ministry of Health Kwabena Boadu Oku-Afari;in a media interaction said the arrival of the vaccines was a big relief for Ghana. Also
“Even if you have the money to buy, it is not easy these days to get them. So this is very timely and a big relief for the country.”
Boadu Oku-Afari
Ghana’s COVID-19 immunization program suffered setbacks early this year due to inadequate vaccine supplies. The delay in the procurement of additional COVID-19 vaccines is occasioned by the global scramble for vaccines and the unavailability of vaccines. Further
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