President of the GMA, Dr. Frank Ankobea, said there was the need to educate the public on the importance of being vaccinated.
“As a country, we tend to wait for things to get out of hand before we take responsibility. The vaccine education must start now,” he told Accra-based Citi FM.
“I know people are sceptical but we the scientists know that the vaccines are safe and that is probably what will help us in the long term. We need to start vaccine education right away. Some of us will be ready to take the vaccines to set the pace.”
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Dr. Ankobea added: “We should not wait for the vaccines to come in before we start the education. We must begin now, otherwise, we will receive the vaccines alright, but people will not go in for them.
“We will only achieve head immunity when we vaccinate at least 70% of our adult population. We are not going to get the vaccines as quickly as is projected. They are expensive. But for now, we need to channel our energies to renewing the minds of the masses.”
In December, President Akufo-Addo announced during his last COVID-19 national address that Ghana will access the approved vaccines when they are available.
He noted that he was aware of the “anxiety related to the safety and efficacy of the newly developed vaccines”, adding that “Government will ensure that the Covid-19 vaccines to be deployed in the country are effective and are safe.”
Meanwhile, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has announced that the country will be in a position to procure the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of March this year.
According to the GHS, the procurement processes have already started and by the end of the first quarter the vaccine will be in Ghana.
Director for Public Health at GHS, Dr. Franklin Asiedu Bekoe, explained that plans are far advanced as the team has already submitted a request in that regard through the WHO’s COVAX facility.