We must push harder for more COVID-19 vaccines

Ghana’s COVID-19 vaccination exercise on Saturday received a shot in the arm when she received her first shipment of Moderna COVID-19 vaccines totalling 1,229,620 million doses.

The double-dose vaccines which are by far the largest to be shipped into the country is from the United States (US) government through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facility.

The new arrivals are going to add up to those already in our custody for vaccination of millions of Ghanaians who are awaiting immunisation against the deadly coronavirus that has already killed millions of people across the globe.

Although the country has sadly lost many through COVID-19, it must be put on record that the government has achieved some successes in acquiring the drugs to vaccinate Ghanaians against the disease. In the face of intense struggle between countries who do not produce the vaccines to acquire them for their citizens, we can only thank the government for the effort.

While we admit that the drugs are not coming in as rapidly as we want, it is encouraging that the government is sparing no effort is searching for the vaccines wherever they may be. We know it is difficult but The Ghanaian Times would urge the government to redouble its efforts and to continue to push to get more doses so that we can meet the 20 million vaccinated target before the end of the year.

It is against this backdrop that we commend Ghana’s development partners particularly US, Germany and the United Kingdom for their commitment to ensuring equitable distribution of vaccines in support of global response in fighting the pandemic.

According to the US Ambassador to Ghana, Stephanie Sullivan, the US had already donated 125 million doses of vaccines to over 80 countries globally to support immunisation drive.

“As we continue to fight the COVID-19 pandemic at home or the workplace, President Biden has promised that the US will be an arsenal of vaccines for the world,” she noted.

The Ambassador hinted of the US government’s willingness to allocate more vaccines to Ghana in the near future as it supports other efforts aimed at mitigating the impact of the pandemic.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, the US has contributed more than 30million dollars to Ghana’s COVID-19 response and the arrival of these vaccines today is priceless,” she stated.

Mrs Sullivan implored citizens yet to take a shot of the COVID-19 vaccine to do so saying, “Vaccines, along with other preventive protocols will help control the pandemic and slow the development of new variants.”

“I urge all Ghanaians to get the vaccines as soon as they are able to do so, especially now that more vaccines are coming in.

There’s no reason not to get vaccinated because vaccines are important to nib mutations of the virus in the bud so it doesn’t outsmart us,” she stated.

We could not agree more with the US Ambassador. The government is playing its part and it behoves everyone who has not vaccinated to do so any time the vaccines are available. COVID-19 is real. Let’s go for the jab

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