COVID-19 vaccine : Second dose can be received 12 weeks after first jab – GHS Boss

Government has assured Ghanaians, who are concerned that they might not be able to receive their second dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine when it is due, that it is working to procure the next batch of vaccines.

Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye speaking at a press conference in Accra on Sunday, April 18, 2021, explained that despite initial assertions that persons would have to receive their second jabs at least eight weeks after the first, it is actually possible to get your second dose at least four weeks after the initial deadline has passed.

Adding that that the delay in the procurement of additional COVID-19 vaccines has been occasioned by the global scramble for the limited global supply.

“We are assuring people that if they do not get the second dose by the eighth week it doesn’t mean there’s something wrong. There is still a four-week window beyond to get it,” he said.

He stated that the current priority of the GHS is to ensure that all Ghanaians receive their first jab of the vaccine.

“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.”