Ghana can’t afford a fourth coronavirus wave – Nsiah-Asare

Ghana cannot afford to go through a fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Presidential Advisor on Health, Dr Anthony Nsiah-Asare, has said.

To that end, he said, the government, through the Ghana Health Service (GHS), has taken the vaccination exercise a step higher in order to get as many as possible inoculated.

Vaccination centres, he stated, are being created closed to the people in the communities including market areas to make it easier for them to go through the exercise.

He was speaking on the Key Points on TV3/3FM with Dzifa Bampoh regarding the measures introduced by the GHS to prevent a fourth wave of the virus in Ghana.

“We cannot afford a fourth wave,” he said, adding that “we can all do this together if you are vaccinated.”

Allaying the fears of persons who are worried about the potential reaction from taking the vaccine, he said “If you are vaccinated and you feel a slight headache it means the vaccine is working very well.”

The GHS had declared the month of December as the vaccination month.

Director-General Dr Patrick Kumah-Aboagye speaking at a press conference in Accra on Sunday, November 28 said vaccination was the surest way to deal with the virus.

He further assured that the authorities are going to scale up surveillance measures at the Kotoka International Airport during the Christmas season to ensure that Covid infections do not increase.

He further said that the mistakes that were made in December last year which occasioned the escalation of infections in January this year, will not be repeated.

There is going to be a “strict enforcement of the protocols at the KIA. We are going to increase surveillance. We are expecting increased number of people to arrive in the country.

“we are going to ensure that our logistics are prepared, we will continue our surveillance to be able to look at that, we are going to look at isolation centres,” he said.

He added “Our contact tracing will be strengthened.

“We are going to engage with religious organizations to ensure that activities in done in Christmas are in accordance with coronavirus protocols.”