Ghana to begin second phase of Covid-19 vaccine roll-out

The president confirmed that the deployment of the second dose of jabs will take place between May 19 and May 26, approximately 12 weeks after the first jab.

CAPE TOWN, May 18 (ANA) – Ghanaian authorities announced on Sunday that they will start to administer the second dose of Covid-19 vaccines as the West African country aims to inoculate 20 million people by October.

According to an update on the country’s Covid-19 response on Sunday evening, President Nana Akufo-Addo said in his address to the nation that when the country vaccinates the requisite number of Ghanaians and achieves herd immunity, Ghana will be able to return to some sort of normalcy.

He added that the application of the Restrictions Act 2020 (ACT 1012) will remain in force and that security agencies will not relent in their efforts to enforce it.

Akufo-Addo observed that they have seen a marked reduction in active cases in the country since February and that the rate of infection has dropped significantly, while recoveries seem to be rising.

The president said that nearly one million people have received the first jab of the Covid-19 vaccines.

Akufo-Addo added that international vaccine politics and the unpredictability of the supply chain, as well as the third wave of infections in Europe where the vaccines come from, had hampered Ghana’s vaccine roll-out.

The president confirmed that the deployment of the second dose of jabs will take place between May 19 and May 26, approximately 12 weeks after the first jab.

He said that 300,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik vaccine were expected to arrive in the country.

The president reminded Ghanaians that all non-essential trips to countries with high Covid-19 infections should either be cancelled or postponed.

Further to this, to prevent fake Covid-19 PCR certificates being used to enter the country, authorities have begun digitising PCR test results to ensure ease of verification.

– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher