Covid-19: Obuasi East MP encourages constituents to take vaccines

Dr. Patrick Boakye Yiadom, Member of Parliament (MP) for Obuasi East, has reiterated the need for Ghanaians to collectively sustain the fight against COVID-19 as a people.

He said the vaccination exercise currently on-going across the country was the surest way to protect the citizenry and also stop the transmission of the virus.

The MP who was speaking at a public engagement to whip up interest in the exercise, said Obuasi and its environs were some of the hardest hit areas in the region during the peak of the pandemic and stressed the need for residents to avail themselves for the vaccines.

He bemoaned the low patronage of the exercise and called on all relevant stakeholders to get involved in educating the public on the importance of the vaccines.

Dr. Boakye who is also the Vice Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, said the Committee had initiated steps to encourage Ghanaians to voluntarily take the vaccines in the interest of public health.

He said members of the Committee had been deployed to various regions to engage stakeholders and the citizenry on the need to participate in the exercise for the collective good of the country.

According to him, 18 million Ghanaians out of about 31million had so far been vaccinated, adding that, there was still a shortfall of about 4.9 million for the country to achieve herd immunity.

He said government had done its part by making vaccines available at no cost, and the public had a civic responsibility to take the jabs to control the virus.

The Legislator admonished Ghanaians to accept the fact that the virus had come to stay and what was important, was to take the necessary measures including vaccination to contain the virus.

Mrs. Faustina Amissah, the District Chief Executive (DCE) urged the public to disregard conspiracy theories about the vaccines, saying they were safe and efficacious.

She said such people were only throwing dust into the eyes of the public without any scientific proof for their claims, and assured the people of their safety after taking the vaccines.

Ms. Delphine Gborgblorvor, the District Director of Health Services implored the people to continue to observe the COVID-19 safety protocols to stay safe from the virus.

She said there were still active cases in Ghana hence the risk of transmission had not been completely eliminated and stressed the need for all eligible persons to protect themselves through vaccination.