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President Nana Akufo-Addo has announced that key public officials such as the President and Members of Parliament, the President of the Supreme Court and magistrates of the Superior Court of the Judiciary, the President and members of the Council of State, the Head of Cabinet and senior officials of the Office of the President and prominent personalities such as some eminent clergy, the National Chief Imam, Asantehene, Ga Mantse and some media professionals will take the COVID-19 jab publicly on Tuesday, March 2, 2021.
The President, who is publicly taking the vaccine today, along with Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and their spouses, said in his COVID-19 24 address to the nation on Sunday, February 28, 2021 that: “This is being done because The vaccine will help us protect ourselves against the impact of COVID-19 on our health. It is also an important catalyst for restoring livelihoods and the national economy to the solid level to which it belongs ”.
“I encourage religious groups, civil society, the media and all Ghanaians to support the public education campaign associated with the exercise. We need all hands to work for this to be a success, “he added.
Read the full statement from the president below:
Speech to the nation by the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on the updates of Ghana’s enhanced response to the coronavirus pandemic, on Sunday, February 28, 2021.
Ghanaian comrades,
Good evening and thank you for welcoming me home once again. He is doing this on one of our nation’s holy days, February 28, when the 1948 Christiansborg Crossroads shooting occurred seventy-three (73) years ago, which led to the martyrdom of Sergeant Adjetey, Corporal Attipoe, and Private Odartey Lamptey. martyrdoms that ignited the nationalist movement and led us to the freedom we enjoy today. Let us observe a moment of silence in honor of his memory and the memory of all the faithful departed patriots who helped create our nation. May your souls rest in perfect peace.
Ghanaian colleagues, since I last spoke to you a month ago, there has been significant progress in our fight against COVID-19 in our country.
Over the course of this week, Wednesday, February 24, to be precise, we took another concrete step in our quest to rid our nation of COVID-19, with the arrival of six hundred thousand (600,000) doses of AstraZeneca in the country. vaccine, the first shipment of many more to come.
In Update No. 23 I indicated that the first vaccine would be in the country in March. However, through hard work and sheer determination, the government was able to secure the first batch of vaccine doses in February, a month ahead of schedule. We are the first country in the world to receive vaccines from the COVAX facility, and I want to express my appreciation to the members of the COVID-19 Task Force, which I chair, and officials from the Ghana Ministry of Health and Health. Service for this commendable feat. The vaccine deployment plan that we submitted to WHO, which unblocked this shipment, was well received. They have done landlord work and our nation is indebted to them. We are also grateful, of course, to the contributors and managers of the COVAX Facility.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is one of two (2) vaccines that, so far, have been approved and declared safe for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). With the certification process currently underway for the other vaccines, the range of vaccines available to us will increase. This will facilitate our ability to reach our goal of vaccinating 20 million Ghanaians by the end of this year.
Through the National Vaccine Deployment Plan, our population has been segmented into four groups, and this will determine which section of the population will be vaccinated at any given time.
Group 1 is classified as “highest risk individuals and front line state officials”. It includes healthcare workers, front-line security personnel, people with underlying medical conditions, persons sixty (60) years of age or older, and front-line members of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches.
Group 2 is made up of other essential service providers and the rest of the security agencies. Includes water and electricity supply services, teachers and students, fuel supply and distribution, farmers and food value chain, telecommunications services, air traffic control and civil aviation services, meteorological services, air transport services, waste management, media, public and private commercial transport services, Police Service, Armed Forces, Prison Service, Immigration Service, National Fire Service, CEPS Division of the Ghana Tax Authority and other members of the Executive, Judicial and Legislative Power.
Group 3 is made up of the rest of the general public which are all persons over eighteen (18) years of age, except pregnant women. The final group, which is Group 4, will include pregnant mothers and people under the age of eighteen (18), and they will be vaccinated when a suitable vaccine is found, hopefully, or when sufficient safety data is available on current vaccines. . . Special arrangements will be made for people with disabilities who belong to these groups.
Then, from Tuesday, March 2, to Monday, March 15, 2021, the Ghana Health Service will begin the deployment of the six hundred thousand (600,000) AstraZeneca vaccines, with people in Groups 1 and 2 being the target of this first vaccination campaign. It will take place in forty-three (43) districts, which are the epicenters of the pandemic in the country. They are twenty-five (25) in Greater Accra, sixteen (16) in Ashanti and two (2) in the Central Region. The Ghana Health Service will give precise details starting tomorrow.
Although we initially focused on the forty-three (43) epicenter-districts, preparations are being made for the vaccination of twenty million Ghanaians through the deployment of some twelve thousand and seventy-one (12,471) vaccinators, thirty-seven thousand, four hundred thirteen (37,413) volunteers, and two thousand seventy-nine (2,079) supervisors for the entire vaccination campaign.
Ghanaian colleagues, I know there are still some who continue to express doubts about the vaccine, others have expressed reservations about its efficacy, and some have sided with conspiracy theorists who believe that the vaccine was created to end the African race. . This is far from the truth. Our national regulatory agency, the FDA, one of the most accredited in Africa and the world, has certified the safe use of the vaccine. You will not do so if you have any reservations about the safety of the vaccine, and I have stated that no vaccine will be implemented in the country for use without express FDA certification.
Taking the vaccine will not alter your DNA, embed a tracking device in your body, or cause infertility in women or men. As your president, I want to assure you that the vaccine is safe. That is why tomorrow, Monday, March 1, before the start of the vaccination program on Tuesday, March 2, my wife the First Lady, the Vice President, his wife the Second Lady, and I will take the vaccine publicly at two. (2) health facilities in Accra.
Key public officials such as the President and members of Parliament, the President of the Supreme Court and the Magistrates of the Superior Court of the Judiciary, the President and members of the Council of State, the Chief of Staff and senior officials of the Office of the President, and prominent personalities such as some eminent clergymen, the national chief imam, the Asantehene, the Ga Mantse, and some media professionals too, on Tuesday, will take the jab publicly.
This is done because the vaccine will help us protect ourselves against the impact of COVID-19 on our health. It is also an important catalyst for restoring livelihoods and the national economy to the solid level to which it belongs.
I encourage religious groups, civil society, the media, and all Ghanaians to support the public education campaign associated with the exercise. We need all hands to work for this to be a success.
Also, I want to reiterate my determination that we should make vaccines here in Ghana. To this end, a Committee has been established under the chairmanship of the former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, the world-renowned scientist Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, which is formulating a concrete action plan for the development and the manufacture of vaccines. .
Ghanaian colleagues, the deployment of the vaccination campaign does not mean that we should lower our guard and discard the security protocols that have served us well so far. We cannot afford to let our guard down. Let’s continue to wash our hands under running water, maintain social distancing, refrain from shaking hands and hugging, and most importantly, wearing our masks.
We must remember that the virus continues to endanger our lives and livelihoods. As of Friday, February 26, 2021, the total number of active cases was five thousand four hundred forty-four (5,444); our daily infection rate is four hundred (400); and seventy-seven thousand nine hundred seventy-two (77,972) recoveries have been registered. Since I last spoke, one hundred and ninety-one (191) more people have sadly passed away, bringing the cumulative death toll to six hundred seven (607), and twenty-four (24) people are seriously ill.
Of sixty-nine thousand three hundred and fifty (69,350) schools in the country, two hundred seven (207) have reported cases of infections. The number of active cases is now two hundred and eighty-two (282).
So, until further notice, all the restrictions announced in my last speech remain in effect and the Police will continue to ensure compliance by everyone.
If we all stay the course and strictly adhere to protocols, we will emerge from this pandemic even stronger than before. This is my assignment for you tonight, my Ghanaian compatriots. There is light at the end of the tunnel, we dare not give up all the hard work right now. This too will pass, because the battle is still the Lord’s!
May God bless us all and our homeland Ghana, and make it great and strong.
Thank you for your attention and have a good night.
— classfm
