At least 5,556,210 persons have so far been vaccinated in Ghana since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said.
Government had initially projected to vaccinate 20 million Ghanaians by the end of December to help achieve herd immunity.
Speaking at the just ended 37th National Farmers Day celebration at Cape Coast in the Central Region, Akufo-Addo said Ghanaians must strictly adhere to the COVID-19 amidst the detection of the Omicron variant in Ghana.
“Despite having a relatively actively low case count as 727 persons infected with COVID-19 as at 28 November we have vaccinated a total of 5,556,210, it is important that we bear in mind that the pandemic is far from over, he said.
“Last Sunday the GHS announced several important additional measures aimed at ensuring that we continue to win the fight against the virus, I appeal to all of you to adhere to them.”
Omicron variant
At least 34 cases of the Omicron variant of COVD-19 have been detected at the Kotoka International Airport , the Noguchie Memorial Institute for Medical Research has said.
It comes barely a day after the director general of the Ghana Health Service announced that just two cases of the variant had been confirmed at the airport.
The Omicron variant which was first detected in South Africa has been described as á variant of concern’ as several countries have already imposed travel restrictions on South Africa due to the high rate of transmissibility.
The institute in a twitter post said it is monitoring the potential spread of the virus within the Ghanaian population.
“The Omicron variant was detected in 28 percent (34 out of 120) returning travellers samples, ( collected from 21-25 November) sequenced. These are the first imported cases of the variant into Ghana, and we are closely monitoring its potential spread in the local population. We encourage the general public to continue adhering to the COVID-19 prevention protocols.”
We’ll not hesitate to make vaccination mandatory
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has said it will not hesitate to make vaccination for COVID-19 mandatory in the country in a bid to achieve herd immunity.
The government had earlier projected to vaccinate about 20 million Ghanaians by December in a bid to achieve herd immunity, however, as at 18 November, only 3, 493,688 people have so far been vaccinated across the country.
Some experts have expressed worry that the hesitation on the part of most Ghanaians to take the jab could derail the government’s effort to contain the virus.
However, speaking with Nana Yaa Mensah on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Monday (22 November), the Director-general of the GHS, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, said GHS will recommend a mandatory vaccination if the need arises.
“Yes, I am sure that with time we will get there and it is something that we have to [do] to bring this pandemic under control and we need to ensure that almost everybody is protected. And if it comes to that I think we will not hesitate to recommend that.
“We have companies in this country that have mandated that if you have not vaccinated, you can’t come to work,… we have to bring the virus under control, we need to ensure that everybody is protected,” Dr Kuma-Aboagye said.
Fred Dzakpata
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