2nd jab of AstraZeneca in Bono East: Zoomlion assures Ghanaians of proper management of Coronavirus waste

Amidst the ongoing nationwide second jab of the AstraZeneca vaccine, Zoomlion Ghana Limited, handling the management of COVID-19 waste, has assured Ghanaians of correct and safe disposal of Covid waste that will be generated at the various vaccine centres.

The Zoomlion Bono East Regional Manager, George Menu, gave the assurance on the sidelines of a vaccination exercise at the Holy Family Hospital in Techiman on Wednesday, September 1 2021.

According to him, Zoomlion was collaborating with personnel from the School of Hygiene-Korle Bu to ensure the safety of Ghanaians during the vaccination.
“So as part of our intervention our medical waste team is making sure that the waste is safely and properly collected, treated and disposed of,” he said.

He disclosed that his outfit was expected to handle and manage waste in 29 health centres in the Bono East, adding that “we have already provided 92 bins to all the centres with 380 liners.”

Mr Manu said each centre will receive 2 bins—one for general waste and the other for biomedical waste, giving the firm assurance that the collected waste was well treated before being exposed to the environment.

Earlier on Tuesday, August 31, 2021, the exercise was launched at Kintampo and will last for 7 days.

The Principal Midwifery Officer, Holy Family Hospital, Ms Adubia Adje, bemoaned the patronage of the exercise, describing the turnout as “very poor.”
This, she attributed, to a lack of adequate information on the exercise.

She pleaded with the media to use their platforms to disseminate information on the ongoing vaccination exercise, adding that the vaccine was for those who had already taken the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The Municipal Health Director, Techiman, Dr Kwabena Fosuhene Kusi, lamented that the quantity of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine received from the government was inadequate.

“We only received 750 Johnson & Johnson vaccines and looking at the population of Techiman which is about 19,100 people, it is obvious that this is woefully inadequate,” he said.

He was, however, quick to add that with the limited Johnson & Johnson vaccines, his outfit has resolved to vaccinate health workers, security personnel and the aged.

As part of the vaccination waste management exercise, Zoomlion is providing each vaccination centre with the following items: 2 - 60 or 120-litre bin, 2- 240 Litre bin, yellow liners (60 litres/120litre & 240-litre size), and black liners (60 litres/120litre & 240-litre size, labels/stickers (medical waste & general waste- A4 size & A2 size).

The process involves labelling the 60 and 240-litre bins: one with the medical waste sticker and the other with the general waste sticker.

There is also the waste segregation bit where all-cotton stained with blood are placed in a 60 litre/120-litre medical waste bin. All syringes are also placed in a sharps container provided by the ministry of health, while all general or non-infectious waste is collected into the general waste bins.

The next stage is a waste collection in which the team makes sure bin liners from the 60 litres/120-litre bins filled with waste are removed, tied and transferred to the respective 240-litre bins.

Sharps boxes used by the vaccinators are put into the 240-litre medical waste bin, while vaccinators are sensitised on how to change bin liners when the bins are full and where they should be placed.

Then finally the medical waste is transferred from the bins to a medical waste truck which subsequently transports the waste to a centralised medical waste treatment facility for sterilization and final disposal.