The Ghanaian cardinal of the Catholic Church Peter Appiah Turkson has encouraged all to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as the world struggles to manage the pandemic.
According to a BBC report, researchers have been looking for ways to help governments persuade vaccine-hesitant people for some time. Unsurprisingly there is no single solution, but a major part of their strategy is talking and engaging with people who are hesitating.
In reality, many of the vaccine-hesitant are simply undecided – and scientists say talking to them can help them to appraise the evidence. And it isn’t just governments and health officials who can do that, the report added.
Cardinal Turkson said the vaccines are scientifically wholesome, adding the church endorses it, so members can go ahead to inoculate.
“Scientifically, the vaccines are protecting people against COVID. We’ve trusted science and research in several other areas. The tools we use and the medication we use among others are all the fruits of research and science. So let’s not develop distrust of the vaccines,” Cardinal Turkson told the host of The Asaase Breakfast Show, Kwaku Nhyira-Addo on Wednesday (12 January).
He added: “We can be rest assured about the vaccine safety and security and they are the most effective treatment or way of dealing with the disease. We’ll recommend the use of it. The thing is to stay alive first and then we look at the issues that flow from that.”
Watch the full interview in the attached video below:
Akufo-Addo: Vaccine won’t change your mind
In mid-December 2021, the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said that COVID-19 vaccination cannot change a person’s political preferences, contrary to a myth being peddled in the media, both formal and informal.
The president said the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and will not harm anyone, and sounded a note of anxiety about creeping vaccine apathy: “Let me state, as clearly as I can: the vaccines are safe. They will not harm you. They will protect you and your family.”
“Contrary to the mischief being peddled by some, getting vaccinated will not cause you to vote for the NPP in the 2024 elections if you do not want to. This is an outrageous claim. Vaccination cannot change your political preferences. That is not its purpose,” he said in an address to the nation.
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