The 7th edition of the National COVID-19 Vaccination Days campaign exercise begins today, the Director-General of Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye has announced.
The exercise like the previous ones targets persons who have not been vaccinated at all, those who have received a single jab between the ages of 18 and above.
The objective of the campaign is to increase the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines among eligible persons yet to be vaccinated, thereby ensuring herd immunity and ultimate protection against future pandemics in the country.
He was speaking at a joint launch and press briefing of the 7th National COVID-19 Vaccination Days (NaCVaDs) campaign in Accra yesterday. It was on the theme: ‘Protect Yourself, Protect Your Family. Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19 Now!’
Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye stated that trained health workers would be available at all facilities, adding that mobile teams would move to religious centres, schools, and other social places to administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
The campaign was an effort to bring the GHS closer to its target, as well as preparing the Service to integrate the campaign into its routine immunisation program.
In furtherance, the Director General rejected claims by some persons that the pandemic was over.
“World Health Organisation (WHO) hasn’t established that the pandemic is over, however under the international health regulations, the management of COVID-19 is taking a different approach that is integrating COVID-19 into the existing health delivery mechanisms.
WHO therefore, recommends that countries maintain efforts to increase COVID-19 vaccination for almost persons to maintain the gains made in nourishing fight against the disease,” he said.
Also, he underscored that currently, about four million eligible persons were yet to receive the vaccines, and an additional three million persons yet to be fully vaccinated.
The Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) Manager, Dr Kwame Amponsa-Achiano, on the update of the vaccination roll out in the country, stated that the misinformation about the decline of COVID-19 had caused hesitancy amongst Ghanaians in taking the vaccination.
However, he mentioned that strategies of GHS has helped in the increase of the administration of vaccines.
“In total we have delivered nearly 26 million doses through the vaccination exercises where 44 per cent of Ghanaians have received at least a dose of the vaccines, and 34 per cent have completed the primary series (taken a dose of the vaccine or both).
A survivor of COVID-19 who got vaccinated, Sani Abdul Jamal, recounted that he had not experienced any severe complications as others had falsely described, however minutes after taking the jab, he only felt dizzy.
He therefore, urged all and sundry to engage themselves in the exercise since it was harmless.
There were health workers, security personnel, representatives of WHO and UNICEF amongst other stakeholders at the launch.
BY YUNUSAH ESSANDOH
