COVID-19 vaccines will soon be available for persons awaiting second jab - GHS

Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye said government is working to procure additional vaccines by May.

COVID-19 vaccines will soon be available for persons awaiting second jab - GHS

Government has assured Ghanaians that plans are underway to procure the next badge of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines to vaccinate the section of Ghanaians whose second jab is due.

Explaining the cause of the procurement delay at a press conference in Accra on Sunday April 18, 2021, Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye said the occurrence is due to the global scramble for vaccines and the unavailability of same.

That notwithstanding, he noted that, government is working with its partners to procure the additional vaccines by May this year.

“As a service, we are more concerned about having more people with the first dose. There are also bilateral arrangements that will bring in other COVAX vaccines including Johnson and Johnson which we are expecting in the third quarter of the year.

“So, we are assuring people that the fact that if you do not get it on the eighth week means there’s something wrong. We still have a four-week window period and beyond to have it,” he said as quoted by dailyguidenetwork.

Dr. Kuma-Aboagye also announced a revision in the GHS’ initial vaccination policy for those who have taken the first dose from 8 weeks to 12 weeks period. This he said is as a result of the efficacy of the first dose explaining that the first dose has about 76% protection for about 90 days which coincides with the revised 12 weeks.