Editorial

AstraZeneca vaccination against COVID-19 resumes Sept 24

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) will from tomorrow, Friday, September 24, 2021, resume the administration of AstraZeneca, COVID-19 vaccines to eligible persons.

The Greater Accra Regional Director of Health, Dr Charity Sarpong, who made the disclosure to the Ghanaian Times, yesterday, said the exercise which will end on Wednesday, September 29, 2020, would cover all 29 districts of the region.

She said, persons 18 years and above awaiting the second dose of vaccination as well as those who have never had a shot of any COVID-19 vaccine, were targeted under the exercise.

“We have received about 182,187 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines to administer in this one-week exercise and looking at the level of positive response we have received since we began vaccination, we hope to exhaust this sooner than anticipated,” Dr Sarpong said.

Explaining why the GHS was yet to administer Moderna vaccines, recently received by authorities in the country, Dr Sarpong said administrative processes on deployment was being finalised to allow for its use under the COVID-19 inoculation programme.

“For now, it is AstraZeneca we are administering and once we receive the green light to use Moderna, we will continue with it,” she said.

Dr Sarpong urged members of the public to visit the nearest vaccination centre with national identification card in the case of first timers, and the COVID-19 vaccination card for persons due for second dose, to receive their jabs.

“This time, there are no restrictions, all persons, provided you are 18 years and above, can walk to any vaccination centre and be vaccinated. Remember, the disease is still around and vaccines are safe to protect us against infection and serious illnesses from COVID-19. We still encourage that people keep to the protocol and wear their masks even after vaccination,” she advised.

Meanwhile, Ghana is still recording new cases of COVID-19 although, at marginal rates.

Latest update from the GHS indicates that 265 new cases were recorded as of September 17, 2021, from six out of the country’s 16 regions and the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).

Majority of the new infections were: the Greater Accra region, 195, followed by Central Region, 30; Western, 13; Ashanti, 11; Eastern, three, and one case from the Bono Region.

Twelve of the new infections were recorded at the KIA.

So far, Ghana has secured over 3.2 million vaccines for its COVID-19 vaccine deployment programme.

Despite initial challenges in vaccine acquisition, which stalled vaccination, government said it remained on course to achieve at least 60 per cent herd exercise by vaccinating 20 million Ghanaians by the end of 2021.

BY ABIGAIL ANNOH

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