Eastern Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has warned the public of the existence of the coronavirus menace and encouraged widespread community participation in the upcoming seventh round of national immunisation.
Addressing a press conference in Koforidua on the 7th round of the national COVID-19 vaccination, Dr. Winfred Ofosu, Eastern Regional Director, GHS, said individuals had contracted the virus in the region, largely because most people might have forgotten about it.
“Health workers are always moving about in communities preaching about the necessity to get the COVID-19 vaccine jab, but people seem to ignore the message,” he said, adding: “I implore you to comply with getting vaccinated to help end the pandemic and stop new variants emerging.”
The 7th round of national COVID-19 vaccination, which is slated for July 19–23, 2023, aims to give everybody who qualifies to take the vaccine but has not been vaccinated the opportunity to get vaccinated.
Dr. Ofosu gave statistics on vaccine doses administered in the Eastern region, saying the total vaccine doses administered were 2,050,392, while the number of persons receiving at least a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine was 1,172,787.
He also said the number of people who were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 was 849,083, and the number of people receiving a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine was 339,590.
“These figures clearly show that as a region, we still have a lot of people who are not fully covered for COVID-19, and therefore we need to increase our efforts to give them the opportunity to be vaccinated and protected from the disease,” he stated.
“Remember that personal protection is equal to community protection,” he added.
According to the World Health Organisation, the coronavirus is primarily spread through contact with small droplets produced from coughing, sneezing, or talking by an infected person.
The common symptoms of the disease include fever, cough, acute respiratory distress, and fatigue.
Some of the outlined precautionary measures were the wearing of nose masks, washing hands with soap under running water, hand sanitising, and eating nutritious and balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables.
He said vaccines from AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and Pfizer, among several others, are available to prevent the disease from spreading.
Dr. Ofosu said that during the 7th round of the national COVID-19 vaccination days campaign, health workers and volunteers would be at vantage points such as Ghana Health Directorate offices, hospitals, health centres, clinics, schools, markets, churches, and mosques.
He said the health team would deploy Johnson and Johnson vaccines and that all persons aged 18 and above are eligible to take the jab, but they should go along with their valid identification cards.
“We encourage anybody who experiences symptoms more than 24 hours after vaccination to report to the nearest health facility for attention,” he said.
He also assured the public that “The vaccines are safe and protect you from severe COVID-19 diseases and deaths due to COVID-19.”
