File photo of a person taking a jab
Dr. Franklin Aseidu-Bekoe, Director of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service (GHS) says the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic is still on and has encouraged the populace to get vaccinated and keep adhering to the safety protocols.
He said no one is safe until everyone got vaccinated, saying though “the spread of the disease among the public has reduced in the past six weeks, this is no different from what is happening in other West African countries, so we all need to protect ourselves.”
He told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Accra that Ghana is at the lower end of the fourth wave hence the need for those yet to go for the jab to do so to protect themselves.
“Usually, cases rise when a new variant is detected, we can only boast of a sustained low burden of the disease when a new variant doesn’t emerge and there is a high vaccine coverage, there are still uncertainties and we must not lose guard,” he said.
Dr. Asiedu-Bokoe said it would be challenging for Ghana to attain its target of vaccinating 20 million people by the end of June this year, but efforts were being made to improve the number of people vaccinated through the vaccination campaigns.
He stated that the vaccination among pregnant women had been good, especially in the urban areas where infections were higher.
As of February 28, a total of 12,637,542 doses of varied COVID-19 vaccines received in the country had been administered.
Presently, 4,867,214 persons representing 24.3 per cent of the 20 million persons targeted have been fully vaccinated.
Similarly, 8,793,591 persons have received at least a first dose of the vaccine with 127,214 persons also receiving a first booster dose.
Available data on the GHS COVID-19 update page showed that as of February 25, about 160,028 COVID-19 cases have been recorded with 1442 deaths, the number of active cases stands at 587.
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Most people who fall sick with COVID-19 will experience mild to moderate symptoms and recover without special treatment, however, some will become seriously ill and require medical attention.
The virus can spread from an infected person’s mouth or nose in small liquid particles when they cough, sneeze, speak, sing, or breathe.
The Ghana Health Service advises that people reduce their risk of infection by washing hands with soap under running water frequently, covering their mouth and nose while coughing or sneezing, and wearing a nose mask when at a crowded place.