The Ghana Health Service (GHS) will from tomorrow begin administering a second dose of AstraZeneca vaccines to persons due for it.
The exercise will however cover persons who took their first shot of the vaccines from March 10 to March 29, 2021.
Head of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation, Dr Kwame Amponsah-Achiano, speaking to the Ghanaian Times yesterday said the exercise will take place across all 16 regions of the country.
According to him, while eligible members of the public would be catered for, health workers in other regions outside the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions would be prioritised.
“We have about 400,000 people awaiting their second dose and because we received 249,000 we are doing equitable distribution across the regions and reserving some specifically for health workers who are at most risk,” he stated.
Dr Amponsah-Achiano assured that by mid-September other persons due for vaccination would receive their shots.
“We have about 350,000 AstraZeneca vaccines in the pipeline and by Mid-September we should be able to administer them because all procurement processes and other arrangements have been completed,” he said.
Meanwhile, a statement by the Greater Accra Regional Health Directorate has directed all eligible persons to visit the nearest vaccination centre across all 29 districts for their shots.
It urged all eligible persons to fully participate in the exercise.
“The general public is advised to bring along a valid national ID card and their COVID-19 vaccination card for the exercise,” the statement signed by the Regional Director, Dr Charity Sarpong, urged.
“The general public is also encouraged to adhere to all the COVID-19 safety protocols especially the appropriate wearing of face masks and strict social distancing measures while at the vaccination centres,” she urged.
In a related development Ghana’s confirmed COVID-19 deaths have passed 1000 with active cases in all 16 regions.
According to the GHS situation dashboard, 149 persons who contracted the disease are in severe conditions and 62 persons in critical conditions.
Presently, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country since the outbreak in March 2020 stands at 117,040, with the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions being the hardest hit; recording 62,745 and 19,865 cases respectively.
BY ABIGAIL ANNOH