All persons who are 18 years and above arriving in Ghana will be required to provide evidence of full vaccination for COVID-19 effective midnight Sunday, 12 December 2021, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has announced.

This follows a review of COVID-19 protocols by the GHS for international travellers.

The review by the GHS was necessitated by the detection of the Omicron variant among international arrivals in the country.

The GHS noted that with several countries experiencing their fourth wave, and a number of travellers from these countries coming to Ghana, the number of persons entering the country is expected to increase during the festive season.

Thus, the need to put in place measures to prevent the country from being hit by a fourth wave.

According to the new protocols, "all unvaccinated Ghanaians and residents of Ghana who are currently outside the country and intend to return within 14 days from the midnight of 12 December 2021, are exempted".

"However, they would be vaccinated on arrival at the airport."

Also, "all Ghanaians travelling out of the country are to be fully vaccinated effective midnight 12 December 2021".

Meanwhile, "other arrival requirements remain unchanged", including the 72-hour Negative PCR test required prior to travel, completion of the Health Declaration Form and all persons who arrive in Ghana will undergo the antigen test.