COVID-19: Ashanti Region begins another round of vaccination

The Ashanti Regional Health Directorate has begun another round of COVID-19 vaccination exercise in all the 43 districts in the region.

The five-day exercise, which begins today and ends on June 12, would seek to vaccinate 165,831 people who have not been vaccinated or are yet to complete their jabs.

Dr. Emmanuel Tinkorang, the Regional Director of Health Services, told a press briefing in Kumasi that persons 15 years and above, including pregnant women, were eligible to take the jab.

Mobile vaccination teams will be administering AstraZeneca, Johnson &Johnson as well as Pfizer to eligible persons during the period.

He said vaccinating the population against the viral disease to achieve herd immunity was critical to the fight against the pandemic and encouraged the public to take advantage of the exercise.

Dr. Tinkorang said the exercise formed part of the National Immunisation Day campaign and urged the media to support the Directorate by sustaining awareness creation at all levels for a successful campaign.

Dr. Tinkorang cautioned the public to observe the safety protocols, especially in situations where the risk of disease transmission was significant.

“They should avoid crowded places, observe physical distancing and personal hygiene in situation where crowding cannot be avoided,” he said.

The Regional Health Director disclosed that only 32 percent of the targeted population in the region had been vaccinated and stressed the need for all stakeholders to play their part in scaling up the exercise.

“Until the World Health Organisation declares that COVID-19 has been eliminated everyone remains at risk so let us all continue to observe the hand hygiene protocols always,” he said.

The relaxation of the COVID-19 restrictions, according to him did not mean Ghana is free from the disease and cautioned against the recklessness being witnessed in public places on daily basis.

He admonished the public to walk into the wellness clinics for routine health screening.