Government has declared the month of December as vaccination month , the  Ghana Health Service (GHS) has said.

Addressing a news conference on Sunday ( 28 November), director general of GHS Dr Patrick Kumah-Aboagye  said the initiative will be officially rolled out on Tuesday.

“With the increasing availability of vaccines in reasonable quantity in the pipeline we are declaring December as the month for vaccinations. So December is going to be declared as the month of vaccination and it will be launched by the honourable  Minister of Health on Tuesday ( 30 November).”

“We are looking at all the three arms of government , all health workers have been given opportunity to vaccinate , and they stay in a very strategic locations, and remember these are the people who have been prioritised at the beginning even when we had very few vaccines.”

“All security personnel will be covered,  they should be vaccinated , all staff and students in Secondary and tertiary institutions should be vaccinated…all workers in government institutions, and parastatals, all drivers and their mates … are expected to be vaccinated,” he told the media.

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.

Vaccination 

Meanwhile, the GHS said it has begun the vaccination of 15-year-olds and above with the Pfizer vaccines in schools across the country.

The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine has been authorised for children ages 15 and up, widening the Ghana population that will be protected against the virus and bolstering chances for a safe return to full-time school after the Christmas and New Year festivities.

Until the approval last Monday, the national vaccination plan only captured people 18 years and above.