President of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) Dr. Frank Ankobeah has insisted that regardless of the country taking stock of some 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID vaccine, safety protocols put in place against the virus should not be disregarded.
He indicated that the fight against the pandemic will not be won by the vaccine or safety protocols but the vaccine and safety protocols both being applied.
According to him, the probability of the virus still spreading is high as the current doses received are small.
“The vaccine is not replacing the safety protocols for now. We received only 600,000 of the vaccine which is not sufficient for the majority of the population that needs to be vaccinated for herd immunity to be gained. The virus can still continue to spread”, he cautioned.
The medical expert indicated that until all Ghanaians receive the vaccine and be free from COVID-19 infections, “safety protocols are to remain a priority. The vaccine is here to compliment safety protocols and not replace them”, he emphasised.
Encouraging Ghanaians to take the COVID-19 vaccine, he mentioned, “the vaccine is very safe and effective and every Ghanaian should get involved in the clinical trials. If we do, we will have a higher stake in it”.
The GMA President made this statement in an interview on the Happy Morning Show aired on e.TV Ghana and Happy 98.9 FM.
Ghana has become the first country to receive vaccines through the UN-backed COVAX scheme, which aims to get COVID-19 vaccines to the world’s most vulnerable people, in a global effort to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
A flight carrying 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India landed in Ghana’s capital, Accra, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
Launched last April, Covax said it planned to ship two billion doses by year’s end.
By: Joel Sanco
