Presidential Advisor on Health, Dr. Anthony Nsiah Asare,;has stated that the number of persons vaccinated are not enough considering government’s efforts to attain herd immunity.
Speaking on the progress of the vaccination exercise, he revealed that about 382,000 people have been fully vaccinated and also 900,000 people who have received only the first dose of the vaccine.
“Nearly about 900,000 people have had their first dose of vaccination;and 382,000 of the stated figure have their second dose.”
Dr. Nsiah Asare
He said the nation has a along way to go;looking at government’s set target of vaccinating 20million people by October, 2021.
“We have a long way to go with our quest to attain herd immunity. Even if we had 1 million people vaccinated, that amounts to 5% percent of people being vaccinated.”
Dr. Nsiah Asare
Dr. Nsiah Asare further disclosed that preparations are underway for the local production of vaccines in the country.
Touching on the funeral of the late Sir John and the non adherence to the COVID-19 protocols,;he said it was of great concern looking at the numbers that attended. Also, he revealed that the issue was due to the inability to control the crowd at the gathering.
He then disclosed that the situation is being looked into and new protocols are being worked on for funerals in the country.
Purchase effective vaccines
Also speaking during the discussion,;the director of the West African Center for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP), Professor Gordon Awandare suggested to the authorities to purchase vaccines that are effective against the aggressive variants.
“We have been fortunate that the more aggressive variants, which is, the South African and the Indian ones, haven’t taken root in the local transmission. We have mainly found these in travelers and we need to maintain that. That means the mandatory quarantine we are doing at the airport needs to be maintained. Also
“I think that we need to be focusing on getting the Pfizer,; the Moderna, those other vaccines that are effective against the more aggressive variants, because it is inevitable that we get to a point where they start to take roots locally.”
Professor Awandare
Continue with mask wearing
Professor Awandare also stated that vaccinated people need to keep their masks on for their own benefit. This, he said, is to protect others due to the absence of vaccines to continue the exercise and the risk resulting from the delay in procurement.
His comment comes after concerns were raised over Ghana being affected with a possible third wave of the COVID.
He explained that fully vaccinated people in some countries are getting infected by new variants that are emerging and as such citizens has to be careful.
Moreover, Professor Awandare said because the vaccination rate in the country is very low,;vaccinated persons who do not adhere to the safety protocols could put non-vaccinated people at risk of contracting the virus.
“At the moment, we are talking about less than 5% of the population being vaccinated, so even though one may be fully vaccinated, it is only a small percentage of the entire population that have received the full dosage.
“So it is advisable that we still keep the masks on because so many other people are not vaccinated yet and you could be carrying the virus.”
Professor Awandare
