The Bono East Region has taken delivery of 8,000 doses of AstraZeneca to be administered to frontline health workers and other essential service providers who had taken their first jab in March this year.
The Chief Director of the Bono East Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC), Mr George Padmore Mensah, disclosed this when he launched the second dose of AstraZeneca vaccination exercise on Tuesday in Kintampo.
He said the region had also received consignment of the Johnson& Johnson vaccines, which had been assigned to frontline security officers, people above 60 years and persons with underlying conditions in the hotspot districts.
“A successful administration of COVID – 19 vaccines, therefore, will contribute to reduction in illness and deaths in the Bono East Region. Vaccines have been used to avert death in preventable diseases,” he reiterated.
Mr Mensah was worried about the rise in the region’s cases in July and August this year, with 2,384 confirmed cases and 237 active cases saying that 50 per cent of the cases were recorded in Techiman.
The Chief Director noted that, full dosage of the vaccines provided protection from severe illness.
According to him, persons receiving JJ vaccines in the four hotspots districts, would need a single shot, meaning that they were fully protected in simple terms.
Dr Fred Adomako – Boateng, the Bono East Regional Director of Health Service, was elated about the delivery of the Astrazeneca and Johnson & Johnson doses, to protect health professionals and other key personalities, saying the five-day exercise which started on Tuesday would end on Saturday.
The Regional Director implored the beneficiaries of the vaccines, not to relax on the compliance of COVID – 19 prevention measures adding that “the virus is prevalent in the region, especially Techiman Municipal, Nkoranza South, Kintampo Municipal and Pru East.”
Dr Adomako-Boateng appealed to stakeholders in the region, including traditional, religious and political authorities to intensify education on COVID – 19. He commended the media in the region for the public education on the virus.
The National Professional Officer (NPO) for Surveillance, at the Country Office of World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Michael Adjabeng, assured the efficacy and safety of the vaccines saying that “it is tried and tested.”
The Deputy Bono East Regional Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Samuel Winfred, assured the security agencies’ commitment to help the enforcement of the protocol, emphasising that “we are all at risk.”
DCOP Winfred warned that the police and other security details in the region would be visiting public gatherings to enforce the full adherence of the preventive measures, “offenders will not go scot free”, he stated.
FROM EMMANUEL ADU GYAMFI, KINTAMPO
