About three million COVID-19 vaccines were administered last month, Dr Kwame Amponsa-Achiano, programme manager, Expanded Programme on Immunisation of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has said.
The figure is the highest administered so far in a month since Ghana began its mass vaccination drive against COVID-19.
The GHS last month declared the month of December as vaccination month to help achieve the country’s herd immunity target.
Speaking to Asaase News, Dr Achiano said the Ministry of Health has launched a five-day national campaign as part of effort to increase the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“If you look at our rate of delivery , It was less than a million a month , but in December we did almost three million, It was only short by two two hundred, we don’t do this , and that was quite good within the contest of COVID -19 delivery, I think that it was not bad at all,” he said.
He added “Even though we didn’t put in a lot of effort like for a typical vaccination month, I will say that it was good, Normally when you declare a month or week as vaccination week or month , we do a lot more of the social mobilisation, communication and making of noise.”
“That is what has even motivated high level management to institute the now what we call national COVID -19 vaccination days, so that we put a lot more effort, learning lessons from the vaccination month.”
Vaccination month
Government declared the month of December as vaccination month.
Addressing a news conference on Sunday ( 28 November), director general of GHS Dr Patrick Kumah-Aboagye said, “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.
Fred Dzakpata
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