Six frontline healthcare workers operating at various hospitals in Ghana say although there are hasn't been much public education concerning the Covid-19 vaccination exercise, they are happy that Ghana has initiated the vaccination exercise.
The doctors made their opinions known during a virtual interview with Joy Prime's Daniel Dadzie today.
The frontline healthcare workers include; Dr Theresa Ruby Quartey-Papafio at the Ghana Infectious Disease Centre at the Ga-East hospital, Joseph Derby Amissah of the SDA Hospital at Koforidua,
Others are Dr Richard Selormey of the St. Elizabeth Catholic Hospital, Hwidiem - Ahafo, Dr. Seth Tele Hassan with the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at Maamobi General Hospital
Dr Banda Khalifa, Manager of Covid-19 Program-Baltimore City Health Department (USA) and Researcher- Johns Hopkins University Department of Epidemiology and President of GADOR, Dr Bernard Hammond a Senior Resident/Specialist Dir. of Trauma/Orthopedics at KATH.
Disturbed by the concerns that the vaccine is not safe, the frontline workers stated that a lot of education and an intentional plan needed to be invested in sensitising the Ghanaian people.
According to the healthcare givers, even though the vaccine has the potential to reduce the damaging effects of the virus, it is of no benefit if Ghanaians refuse to take it amidst fears that the vaccine may not be effective should the genetic sequence of the virus change.
“We haven’t sensitized people enough to accept the vaccine, but on my side, I am very glad but as to how they going to vaccinate people in the communities in relation to sensitization, that is where my fear, because there are so many questions we have not answered.
"But as a frontline worker working with people with Covid-19, I am very excited and I am ready for my shot at any time," Theresa Quartey Papafio stated.
Mr Derby-Amissah lauded the government for procuring the vaccine, stating that it was going to impact the work of Doctors and frontline workers in many ways.
"It is going to reduce the disease burden in the country. It will also reduce the prevalence of very critical and very severe cases," Amissah said.
President Akufo-Addo together with the First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo today received their first dose of Covishield, the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.
The vaccination process was televised on all media outlets as well as social media platforms to boost confidence in citizens to take the vaccine.
This follows weeks of debate about the safety of the vaccine, anticipated side-effects and the country’s vaccination roll-out plan.
The frontline healthcare workers advised that all persons to get on board and support the Government of Ghana as it takes steps to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the country.
They further assured that the Covid-19 vaccines are safe and would not pose any threat to the health of any citizen.
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