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COVID-19: Ghana’s death toll hits 594

Latest figures from GHS show that active cases have dropped further to 5,419  after 455 new coronavirus cases were confirmed at the laboratories

At least six more persons have died of COVID-19 taking Ghana’s death toll to 594, health officials announced on Friday.

The country’s active cases have dropped further to 5,419  after 455 new coronavirus cases were confirmed at the laboratories.

As at 23 February 2021, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) reports that the country’s total confirmed cases increased to 82,586 out of which 76,573 have recovered.

So far, 87 persons are in severe condition while 31 remain critical, according to GHS. Cases detected at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) are 1,221   with 1,074  recoveries.

Breakdown of regional cases: 

Greater Accra Region – 47,029

Ashanti Region – 14,324

Western Region – 5,143

Eastern Region – 3,668

Central Region – 2,884

Volta Region – 1,692

Northern Region – 1,155

Bono East Region – 1,114

Upper East Region – 1,093

Bono Region – 982

Western North Region – 797

Ahafo Region – 663

Upper West Region – 377

Oti Region – 274

North East Region – 98

Savannah Region – 72

Eight-week intervals for second shot

Meanwhile, Ghana has settled on eight weeks as the interval to administer the second shot of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine as part of its immunization strategy, officials have said.

This means all the 600,000 persons who will be immunized in the country from 2 March would have to wait for another two months before getting the second dose of the vaccine.

Dr Kwame Amponsa-Achiano, programme manager for the Expanded Programme on Immunisation  at the Ghana Health Service (GHS) confirmed the move in an interview with Kojo Mensah on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Thursday 25 February.

“The manufacturer recommends that the second shot (AstraZeneca vaccine) should be given between four and 12 weeks, then there were further studies that suggested that the longer it is the better,” he said.

Dr Amponsa-Achiano added: “So there is a guideline from the strategic group of advisors called SAGE, who advise WHO on matters of immunisation and related technology, so they have come out with a guide that because further studies have suggested that the longer the better, we in Ghana have settled on eight weeks.”

According to him, the decision was taken to ensure a good interval to get a better response and also ensure people comply with the timeline for taking the vaccine.

Dr Amponsa-Achiano explained that they will deploy a temporary mobile clinic for the vaccination exercise instead of a house-to-house method adopted for some immunisation.

He further assured the public that the vaccines are safe.

Meanwhile, government is in the process of establishing a call centre to receive complaints and answer questions on the immunisation exercise.

Fred Dzakpata 

Asaase Radio 99.5 – tune in or log on to broadcasts online
Follow us on Twitter: @asaaseradio995
#asaaseradio  #TVOL

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