Ugandans to receive second Covid-19 vaccine after 12 weeks instead of 8
The Ministry of Health (MOH) has extended the timeline for second dose of COVID-19 vaccine from the initial 8 weeks to now 12 weeks.
According to MOH, the decision is in line with the recommendation from World Health Organization aimed at strengthening body immunity against COVID-19.
“Current evidence indicates that the longer the longer the interval between doses, the better for your body to generate stronger immunity against COVID-19.”- MOH indicated.
Minister of Health, Ruth Aceng noted; “Vaccine efficacy increases significantly when the interval between doses is more than 4 weeks (4 to 8 weeks – 56.42%, 9 to 12 weeks – 70.48%, 12 weeks and above 77.62% and as high as 81.3% in another study).”
The ministry has said that personel who received their first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine will have to wait for up to 12 weeks from receipt of the first dose to receive their second dose of the vaccine.
To-date, total number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 stands at 387,024 according to data from Ministry of Health.
