GHANA (Accra) (Updated March 8th, 2023; 15:32 pm)

Updated Covid-19 Guidelines for Kotoka International Airport (KIA)
Revision 19: Effective Date: 23rd January 2023 at 00:00 hours (UTC)

1. Pre-Arrival/Arrival Processes – Travellers intending to enter Ghana

a. All International passengers including those from the ECOWAS region must complete a Port Health Declaration Form at https://www.ghs-hdf.org/hdf/ before embarkation on a flight to Ghana.
b. All persons arriving in Ghana (citizens, residents, and visitors) who are fully vaccinated will be exempt from any form of testing done either prior to boarding from the originating country or on arrival in Ghana.
c. All arriving passengers (citizens, residents, and visitors) who have NOT been fully vaccinated will be required to present a valid NEGATIVE COVID-19 PCR test result 48 hours prior to departure from originating country and will be required to UNDERGO MANDATORY COVID-19 TESTING ON ARRIVAL AT THE KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AT NO COST.
d. All persons arriving in Ghana MAY BE RANDOMLY SELECTED AND OFFERED a COVID-19 TEST ON ARRIVAL at the Kotoka International Airport AT NO COST
e. Non-Ghanaians Travelling to Kotoka International Airport with fake or forged vaccination certificates shall be quarantined and returned to the point of embarkation AT THEIR OWN COST.
f. AIRLINES THAT BRING PASSENGERS TO KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WHO ARE NOT VACCINATED OR FULLY VACCINATED WITHOUT A VALID NEGATIVE COVID-19 PCR TEST RESULT 48 HOURS PRIOR TO DEPARTURE WOULD BE SURCHARGED $3,500.

All Arriving passengers will undergo temperature screening, Yellow Fever Card verification, and COVID-19 vaccination certificate verification as required

2. Transit Passengers

a. Passengers transiting and transferring through KIA will be required to fully adhere to COVID-19 testing requirements at the destination countries.

3. Exemptions

a. Children less than 18 years of age are exempt from mandatory vaccination, pre-departure PCR testing, and testing on arrival in Ghana
b. Airline crew are exempted from the pre-departure and arrival COVID-19 testing and should follow the Airline policy for testing.
c. Passengers who arrive under emergency circumstances such as diverted flights will not be required to undergo testing if they do not leave the airport or remain in isolation in their hotel.

4. Travelling with Pets

a. Travelling with pets into Ghana is allowed in line with the guidelines of the Veterinary Services Directorate of the Ministry of Food & Agriculture.

5. Departure Process- Passengers exiting Ghana

a. Passengers departing Accra will be required to adhere to COVID-19 testing requirements for the destination countries.
b. Departing passengers will undergo temperature screening at the entrance of Terminal 3 departures

6. Wearing of Nose Mask

a. Wearing of nose mask is recommended in all Airport Terminals and ancillary buildings

7. Vaccination

Definition of Fully Vaccinated – A person is said to be fully vaccinated when he/she has taken the full dose of vaccines approved and registered by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), Ghana, or other vaccines prequalified by WHO (https://covid19.trackvaccines.org/agency/who) as in Table 1.

All Passengers must present a valid COVID-19 vaccination certificate showing that they were fully vaccinated at least 14 days before embarkation except partially vaccinated or unvaccinated Ghanaians who are required to present a NEGATIVE 48hrs PCR test result to the airline before embarkation and to Port Health upon arrival.

List of Covid-19 vaccines approved for travelers into Ghana

https://covid19.trackvaccines.org/agency/who/

Covid-19 vaccines granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the Ghana Food and Drugs Authority (FDA)

1. Sputnik V (Gam-COVID-Vac) – Gamaleya National Centre of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Russia
2. CovishieldTM (Oxford/AstraZeneca formulation) – Serum Institute of India (SIIPL) India
3. COVID-19 Vaccine Janssen (Ad26.COV2. S) – Janssen Pharmaceutica NV
   – Einsteinweg 101, 2333 CB Leiden,
   – The Netherlands
4. Pfizer – BioNTech’s Comirnaty (BNT162B2) – BioNTech Manufacturing GmbH
   – Kupferbergterrasse 17-19, 55116 Mainz Germany
   – Pfizer Manufacturing Belgium NV
   – Rijksweg 12, 2870 Puurs, Belgium
5. Moderna’s Spikevax (mRNA 1273) – Rovi Pharma Industrial Services, S.A
   – San Sebastian de los Reyes Paseo de Europa, 50 28703.
   – Madrid, Spain
6. Vaxzevira (previously COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca) (AZD1222) – AstraZeneca AB (Sweden)
   – SK Bioscience Co Limited (Republic of Korea)

Others Granted Emergency use listing (EUL) by WHO

7. COVAXIN – Bharat Biotech, India

8. BBIBP-CorV (Vero Cells) – Sinopharm, (Beijing) China
9. CoronaVac – Sinovac, China.
10. COVOVAX™ COVID-19 vaccine (SARS-CoV-2 rS Protein Nanoparticle [Recombinant]) – Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd
11. NUVAXOVID™ COVID-19 vaccine (SARS-CoV-2 rS [Recombinant, adjuvanted]) – Novavax CZ a.s.

https://covid19.trackvaccines.org/agency/who/
N/B: The first dose of Johnson and Johnson and 2nd dose of all other approved vaccines should be at least 14 days prior to embarkation to be qualified as fully vaccinated.

10. Traveller Role – Uploading the vaccination card onto the PanaBIOS trusted travel platform

a. Create an account on the AU-endorsed site: https://trustedtravel.panabios.org or on the UNDP-endorsed Global Haven site: www.globalhaven.org
b. Click on the “Trusted Vaccines” tab.
c. Choose user type to create vaccination booklet (self or dependent if uploading for someone).
d. Indicate the country of vaccination.
e. Choose pathogen/disease (SARS-CoV-2).
f. Fill out the vaccination campaign column (i.e., Type of vaccines and the number of shots).
g. Fill in the vaccination record (i.e. Batch number, manufacturer, vaccination date and vaccination card number).
h. Upload the vaccination card.
i. The system will verify your vaccine records and issue you with a code and a pass.
j. Either the vaccine code or the pass is adequate for travel.
k. The vaccine code or the pass will be verified and validated by Port Health before departure and upon arrival in Ghana.
l. The vaccine code or the pass will be re-validated by the airline before check-in at departure.
m. If unvaccinated, take a PCR test within 48 hours of your embarkation to Ghana and validate the test result at https://trustedtravel.panabios.org or www.globalhaven.org

11. Airline Role

a. Airline pre-embarkation staff must confirm that passengers have BOTH a Vaccine Code from PanaBIOS and a Vaccine Card before check-in.
b. Airline operators should inspect, and ensure that every passenger shows proof of a pre-validated vaccination certificate (QR Code) from the PanaBios platform before they are allowed to board the flight.
c. Sanctions will be applied by Port Health to airlines that do not comply with the guidelines and protocols.

12. Port Health Role

a. Port Health will validate the vaccination certificate both physically and using the PanaBIOS platform of travellers embarking and disembarking at the airport, seaport, and ground crossing.
b. Port Health will provide technical assistance, supervise, and monitor the airlines to enhance effective implementation.
c. Port Health will apply sanctions to airlines that do not comply with the guidelines:
d. Disembark travellers who did not upload their vaccination certificates

e. Disembark Non-Ghanaian(s) who are not fully vaccinated per the guidelines
f. Travelers who are found to possess ‘fake’ or ‘vaccination certificates belonging to other persons’ will be handed over to the National Security.

Customer support: globalhaven@panabios.org. Additional information on how to comply with these directives is available at: www.panabios.org/advisories/Ghana

Additional information and guides can be accessed on the Ghana Health Service and Africa CDC website (www.africacdc.org/trusted-travel). Customer service and technical support can be reached via globalhaven@panabios.org.