GHS to begin mass COVID-19 vaccination on May 4
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has announced a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign beginning May 4, 2024.
This is in response to increasing COVID-19 cases, particularly in some parts of Greater Accra.
According to Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, the Director of Public Health at the GHS, the mass vaccination is to curb the spread of the virus.
“We are getting a few cases reported in parts of Accra and a few other regions. And it brings to bear the fact that Ghanaians need to be vaccinated, and so on the 4th to the 10th of May, we are going to do a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign, and we want to urge all Ghanaians to be part of the exercise.
“We plan to do about four or five before the end of the year. The thinking is that we need to get the necessary population immunity that will help us minimize the risk of getting infections in the country,” he said.
In 2023, GHS launched its 7th National COVID-19 Vaccination Days (NaCVAD-7) from July 19 to July 23, aiming to immunize about one million people.
The exercise was to bring the country closer to the attainment of herd immunity.
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Data from the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) indicates that nearly 15 million of the total population have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
While an estimated 11.8 million are fully vaccinated, 6.8 million persons have so far taken a booster shot.
Meanwhile, a public health expert and Senior Medical Officer at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, Dr Emmanuel Addipa-Adapoe, said that in the new cases, COVID-19 may present in malaria and flu-like symptoms.
“With the new infections, it is difficult to tell if it’s a COVID-19 infection without a test because you may experience headaches, cough, fever and sometimes sore throat. The likelihood of a loss of smell and sense of taste may no longer be the case, although infected persons may sometimes experience muscle weakness,” Dr Addipa-Adapoe noted.