As Ghana kicks off its COVID-19 immunization process on Tuesday, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged citizens to come out and get vaccinated.
The president implored Ghanaians not to take in the negative narrative about the coronavirus vaccines, as the jabs remained the only protection against the impact of the pandemic, assuring that the inoculation had been duly certified by the FFA and was safe.
“I know there are still some who continue to express doubts about the vaccine, others have expressed reservations about its efficacy, with some taking sides with conspiracy theorists who believe the vaccine has been created to wipe out the African race”, he stated.
“This is far from the truth. Our domestic regulatory agency, FDA, one of the most reputable in Africa and in the world, has certified the safe use of the vaccine. It will not do so if it had any reservations about the safety of the vaccine,” the President said in a televised national address on Sunday to give an update on Ghana’s enhanced response to the pandemic.
No vaccine, he reiterated that, will be deployed in the country for use without the express certification of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).
President Akufo-Addo stated that vaccination process will help protect the citizens against the health impacts of COVID-19, adding, that exercise was also “a major catalyst to restoring livelihoods and the national economy to the robust level it belongs.”
“Taking the vaccine will not alter your DNA, it will not embed a tracking device in your body, neither will it cause infertility in women or in men. As your President, I want to assure you that the vaccine is safe,” he added.
Ghana last Wednesday secured a first batch of 600,000 doses of the UN-arranged COVAX vaccines manufactured by AstraZeneca in India.
The Ghana Health Service will from Tuesday, March 2, to Monday, March 15, 2021, deploy the 600,000 AstraZeneca vaccines.
Persons who would be inoculated during this first vaccination campaign include healthcare workers, frontline security personnel, persons with underlying medical conditions, persons 60 years and above, and frontline members of the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary.
Others who would benefit from the 600,000 doses also include the rest of the security agencies, and essential services providers such as water and electricity supply services, teachers and students, supply and distribution of fuels, farmers and food value chain, telecommunications services, air traffic and civil aviation control services, meteorological services, air transport services, waste management services, media, public and private commercial transport services, the CEPS Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, and other members of the Executive, Judiciary, and Legislature.
Ahead of the roll out of the vaccines, President Akufo-Addo, will on live television on Monday, March 1, 2021, receive the first dose of the AstraZeneca Vaccine at the 37th Military Hospital in Accra, to persuade the Ghanaian public that shots are safe.
First lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawuma and his wife Samira will also be taking shots along with the President.
Key public officials such as the Speaker and Members of Parliament, the Chief Justice and Justices of the Superior Court of Judicature, Chairperson and Members of the Council of State, the Chief of Staff and senior officials at the Office of the President, and prominent personalities like some Eminent Clergy, the National Chief Imam, the Asantehene, the Ga Mantse, and some media practitioners will also, on Tuesday, take the jab publicly.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is one of two vaccines that have, so far, been approved and declared as safe-for-use by the FDA.
