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The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) and the Metropolitan Health Directorate have stepped up public education on the COVID-19 vaccination program.
The goal, according to the authorities, is to encourage citizens to make themselves available for inoculation against the new coronavirus.
“It is in our interest to receive the vaccines because it is the only way to ensure the safety of Ghanaians in the face of the threats posed by the pandemic”, noted Mr. Thomas Quaison, in charge of health promotion at the Directorate.
The Ministry of Health (MoH) said the immunization exercise will start in the first week of March this year with a focus on Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi, the two designated hot spots in the country. .
Mr Quaison, in an interview with Ghana News Agency (GNA), Kumasi, on the sidelines of a COVID-19 awareness program for vulnerable groups, observed that vaccination was the way forward.
According to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) Pandemic Portal, the country had as of February 25 this year recorded 584 deaths since the pandemic outbreak in March last year.
Mr Quaison said the country could not take any risks given how the pandemic had decimated most of the world’s economies.
Some civil society organizations, opinion leaders and a cross section of the population have expressed apprehension about the immunization exercise, especially regarding the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.
This follows the recent government receipt of the first batch of 600,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines donated by COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX), a global initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.
This shipment places Ghana in pole position as the first country in West Africa to start vaccinating its population, after authorization from the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).
Mr Quaison initially said the exercise would target frontline health and safety personnel, the judiciary and other key figures, saying the GHS was working with key stakeholders to promote a smooth take-off.
He said the Metropolitan Health Directorate has stepped up its exercise public education campaigns to help address public concerns about the vaccine’s efficacy, safety and expected side effects.
Mr. Michael Agyemang, Director of Planning, KMA, representing the Head of the Metropolitan Executive (MCE), Mr. Osei Assibey-Antwi, said the outreach program was jointly organized under the auspices of the Metropolitan Assembly of Kumasi (KMA), CUF and VNG, two international organizations based on local government.
Dubbed the “COVID Support Project for Greater Kumasi,” the goal was to expose participants, including people with disabilities as well as patients with HIV / AIDS, to the dangers of the pandemic.
Mr. Agyemang assured that the KMA would not back down by working closely with CUF and VNG to alleviate the plight of vulnerable and poor people in society whose lives had been worse, after the COVID-19 outbreak.
The two organizations recently donated quantities of food and personal protection items such as face masks and disinfectants to the needy in Greater Kumasi.
The planning director has warned metropolitan residents to always adhere to COVID-19 safety protocols.
— GNA
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