COVID-19 vaccination with AstraZeneca takes off in Sekondi-Takoradi after initial delay

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After initial challenges in the delivery of the second mass COVID-19 vaccination exercise in the Sekondi Takoradi Metropolis and the Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipality on Wednesday, September 1, 2021, the Western Regional Expanded Programme on Immunization commenced the exercise at some centres on Thursday.

When Citi News visited the Takoradi Technical University Centre at 9:00 am, they were still waiting for their vaccines, but the exercise kicked off some 30 minutes later.

At the Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipal Assembly (EKMA) vaccination centre, over 20 people had already taken their second shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine as of 10:30 am.

The Nurse in Charge of the EKMA centre, Gertrude Amarh, said, “we were unable to begin the exercise yesterday [Wednesday], because we faced some logistical challenges, but they have been solved now. So the process was very smooth today [Thursday], and we are expecting a smooth process.”

One of the persons who received the second jab also said, “the process was quite smooth today [Thursday]. I did not spend much time today [Thursday]” he said.

The Ghana Health Service on August 18, 2021, took delivery of some 249,000 doses of the vaccines from the UK government to support its vaccination drive.

Programs Manager of the Expanded Programme on Immunization at the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Kwame Amponsa-Achiano however, says priority will be given to frontline health workers and vulnerable persons who have already taken their first jab.

AstraZeneca was the first vaccine to arrive in Ghana earlier this year when the country heightened its efforts to beat COVID-19.

Out of the about 800,000 people to have been vaccinated with AstraZeneca, nearly half of the number is yet to get the second jab.

Ghana recently vaccinated a section of the population with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which arrived in the country in July 2021, under the African Union's African Vaccine Acquisition Trust initiative.

A total of 177,600 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been administered to unvaccinated persons in COVID-19 hotspots in the Greater Accra Region and the Ashanti Region.

---citinews