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Source: GNA
The Central Regional Office of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) will step up public education on the COVID-19 vaccination scheduled for March 2, 2021.
More than 20 million Ghanaians are expected to be vaccinated in the estimated $ 52 million fiscal year.
The immunization exercise takes place in three phases, starting with health workers, people with known underlying health problems and security personnel.
In this sense, the Commission organized a COVID-19 vaccination awareness capacity building workshop for its metropolitan, municipal and district directors (MMDDs) to help provide the public with the right information.
Directors were tasked with arming themselves with information about the pandemic to adequately educate the public about the immunization exercise.
They must provide truthful and accurate information to counter disinformation and fake news circulating on social media and other platforms.
NCCE Regional Director Nicholas Ofori Boateng noted that anti-vaccine campaigners had caught the public’s attention with false information that needed to be debunked with the right messages.
Participants walked through basic information about COVID-19, the history and benefits of vaccination, vaccines currently approved for the treatment of COVID-19 in Ghana, and myths about COVID-19 vaccination.
They were also briefed on the adverse effects of the vaccine, the processes it followed prior to its approval, the deployment plan, and the safety of vaccines approved for use in Ghana.
Mr. Ofori Boateng advised the MMDDs to work with the Ghana Health Service, the Ghana Medical Association, assemblies and stakeholders to carry out their tasks.
The second phase, he said, would benefit essential service providers, people over the age of 60, graduate and post-graduate students, teachers, members of the executive, the legislature, the government. judiciary and media. He said other members of the population, excluding children under sixteen and pregnant women, would be vaccinated during the third phase.
Mr Ofori Boateng said vaccination was a complementary measure to slow the rate of spread of the virus and did not mean that once people are vaccinated, adherence to established protocols should be seized.
He instructed officers to remind citizens to respect existing safety protocols and restrictions even after vaccination.
He advised civic educators to demonstrate an understanding of the concerns that would be raised by the public and to respond reasonably to them.
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