The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has indicated that priority would be given to the earliest recipients of the first jab of the Covid-19 vaccines as it prepares to administer the second jabs.

The GHS Director-General stated that persons who qualify for the inoculation will be classified according to the period within which the initial doses were received.

Speaking on JoyNews, Dr Patrick Kuma Aboagye explained that the GHS would make use of its records of persons vaccinated to ensure a smooth and transparent vaccination process.

“... we have information of when they took their first doses. We also have information of earliest times they can have their second dose. So as we speak now, not everybody is even qualified to get the second dose, depends on when you had your first dose.

"We are going to follow the same routine to ensure that those who are due and closest to the 12-weeks - that will be our priority that that is how we are going to continue until everybody is done,” he told Judith Awortwi Tandoh.

His comments come after concerns raised by members of the general public on government's inability to ensure persons who got vaccinated from March receive their second doses.

But government on May 7, procured some 350,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines from the Democratic Republic of Congo under the Covax facility to enable the second phase of the vaccination exercise to begin.

The country is expected to commence administering the second doses of the AstraZeneca and Covishied vaccines on May 19, to the respective groups who received their first jab this year.

Meanwhile, Dr Aboagye says the Ghana Health Service’s objective is to ensure that the entire populace gets vaccinated since that is the surest way of curtailing the spread of the Covid-19 and prevent a possible third wave.

He also reiterated the bilateral negotiations government is undertaking to ensure it fulfils its objective to have at least 20 million Ghanaians vaccinated in the shortest possible time.

“We are also concerned about getting more people to get their first dose that is why there are several attempts in making sure we have enough vaccines to get other people to have their first dose.

“There is a lot of work going on to be able to mobilize vaccines all over... this is definitely not the last vaccine to come in. The plan is to vaccinate 20 million and that plan still continues,” he concluded.

As of March 2, 2021, Ghana vaccinated its health personnel, the aged and persons with health underlying conditions as it began its mass Covid-19 immunization exercise in 42 selected districts in the Greater Accra, Kumasi and Western regions.