The Volta Regional Directorate of the Ghana Red Cross Society (GRCS) is embarking on an intensive COVID-19 vaccine campaign in the Ho Municipality to sensitise the citizens to get vaccinated.
The move formed part of the GRCS’s health and community service activities about COVID-19 response to support the government’s efforts to tackle the pandemic.
The exercise would be carried out within ten months with sponsorship from the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC).
Mr Gershon Dzokoto, the Volta Regional Director of the GRCS, at training for volunteers to prepare them for the task, said many people still did not believe in the existence of the virus and this was affecting the fight against the pandemic.
He said the volunteers would go to various communities in the Municipality to educate the populace on the importance of the vaccine in the fight against the virus and the need for them to be inoculated.
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Mr Dzokoto said the training was to equip volunteers with necessary information regarding the vaccine and build their capacity so they would be able to undertake the exercise effectively.
The Director said the exercise would be done in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service and would focus on tackling issues of vaccine hesitancy, misconception and public compliance with the safe protocols.
He said vaccine hesitancy and misconception were major issues which required a collaborative effort to accelerate the vaccination for the country to achieve herd immunity and stem the spread of the virus.
Mr Dzokoto said the battle against the virus was not over yet and that the country could not afford to lose its human resources to the pandemic, therefore, every conscious effort had to be made to get the citizens inoculated.
COVID-19 is real, so it is good to take vaccination, he said, adding that the vaccination was a sure and powerful way to protect oneself and others from the devastating effects of the virus.
He urged the citizens to support the government in its drive to minimise transmission of the disease by making themselves available to take the jab.
Mr Dzokoto said the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), the regulatory agency, had reviewed and approved the vaccines to be efficacious, safe and of good quality and encouraged all to take the jab.
The Director said when an entire community got vaccinated, it would be difficult for the virus to penetrate such a community, therefore “let us all come out to take the vaccine to make our communities safe.”
Ms Ama Shine Attipoe, a volunteer, told GNA that it was the duty of all citizens to ensure that the country succeeded in the fight against the pandemic.
She said it was worrying when people continue to show total disregard for the safety protocols and asked that something be done about the situation as a new variant of the pandemic was being recorded.
