“GHANA STARTS VACCINATION OF THE JOHNSON & JOHNSON VACCINES TODAY.”
On Saturday, 7th August 2021, Ghana received 177,600 single-short COVID-19 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccines, the first of its monthly suppliers under an arrangement with African Union nations.
In the light of the above, the Ghana Health Service has scheduled to start giving out jabs of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the Greater Accra Region today, Friday, August 13, 2021. Ashanti Region which is also identified as a hotspot will start its vaccination on Monday, August 16, 2021.
This was disclosed by the Manager of the Expanded Programme on immunization of Ghana Health Service, Dr. Kwame Amponsa-Achiano stating that “We are hopeful that at least the Greater Accra Region will start [vaccination] on Friday. [Vaccines for] Kumasi will be leaving here today [Thursday], so it will not be realistic for Ashanti to start tomorrow [Friday]… hopefully by Monday, they should also be able to start,”
He further noted that the vaccine shots will be given out in 11 districts; seven in the Greater Accra Region and four in the Greater Kumasi metro. They will be targeting persons at higher risk with the Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
“We are still looking at the most at risk. Of course, we are also pursuing additional vaccines for them. Everybody is at risk, but there are more vulnerable people, and so that is what we are looking at now,” Dr. Amponsa-Achiano noted.
It is worth mentioning that the Ghana Health Service will not be offering the Johnson & Johnson jabs to persons who have previously received the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Ghana has administered over 1.2 million vaccine doses, with only 405,971 being fully vaccinated by receiving both doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and about 865,000 recipients awaiting their second jabs.
Situation update by the Ghana Health Service on the Covid-19 outbreak as of 08 August 2021 indicates the total number of cases to be 109,428 and recovered 101,984, with the active cases surging at 6,545.
