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On February 24, 2021, Ghana received the AstraZeneca vaccine against the new coronavirus. Approximately 600,000 doses for a target population of 20 million.
Many have questioned the efficacy and potency of this cost-effective, interventionist primary health care policy that has prevented the world’s population from around 2 to 3 million deaths annually, according to the WHO.
Vaccines prevent about 20 different types of harmful diseases.
Immunization (vaccination) started in 1974 by the WHO and was adopted by Ghana in 1978 with a previous first * _Six Killer Diseases of Children_ * (Preventable by Vaccine). You now have about 13 vaccine-preventable diseases. Conspiracy theories emerged in the introduction of each of these successive vaccines.
Vaccines stimulate the immune system and make it firm, strong to resist and fight disease or infection. The immune system or the _ * army * _ of the body operates in two configurations. It is natural when present at birth or acquired when given synthetically after birth (vaccination) for the same purpose. Still, acquired immunity can be gained during life events like infection (chickenpox), the reason why you don’t get chickenpox after a previous infection. This is naturally acquired immunity.
Vaccines provide active immunity. The body participates in establishing safety settings (antibodies) as a form of awareness training for * _war_ *. The army will not shoot and kill its own, but foreign bodies.
Conspiracy theorists are of the opinion that AstraZeneca will cause infertility problems between men and women. Others believe that it is genocidal to Africans. All of these are not new with the advent of all vaccines.
On 03/01/21, the President and Vice President, with their spouses, launched the online vaccination exercise with a call for attention from sectors of the citizenry to generate trust and promote greater coverage and acceptance level.
But this was bombarded with reactions of tsunamic proportions and some reiterated their old ideology that the duo would inject something different than what the rest of the population would get.
The procedure and techniques of the health professional for injecting the vaccine were also questioned. She wasn’t just wearing hand gloves!
When preparing and administering an intramuscular injection, hand gloves are not required. It should also be noted that the practice of pulling back on the syringe plunger to confirm that the needle is in muscle tissue is well established. Wash your hands or rub with alcohol after each successive injection.
The Covid-19 vaccine is not to kill and will not kill Africans. According to the WHO, COVAX, the vaccine delivery agent, plans to distribute 2 billion doses of AstraZeneca before the end of 2021. This will initially cover all vulnerable groups and front-line healthcare workers. It would be given free to low- and middle-income countries that otherwise could not have afforded it, in the same way that these countries are forgiven the unsustainable international debt of the IMF and World Bank.
The vaccine is not a biological weapon prepared in the laboratory to cause long-term side effects or death. Africans, who serve in various capacities in WHO and the scientific world, would not allow it. _ * “If rich countries make something to kill Africans, who will they sell their products to? * _ Director General, Ghana Health Service.
According to the WHO, the effectiveness rate of the Covid-19 vaccine is 92%.
There are five stages of clinical trials that a vaccine or drug must go through to ensure its safety and effectiveness prior to use or marketing.
The local regulatory body, the Food and Drug Authority, also plays the same essential role prior to use in the country. It would be impossible for the Covid vaccine to bypass all these predefined protocols and enter the country.
On Tuesday 03/02/21 the first phase of mass vaccination begins in some regions and selected districts that are the epicenters of the disease. It is for everyone over the age of 18.
You do not need tests to know your status before receiving the vaccine. Go get vaccinated.
This is our health. And politicizing it will be disastrous. Rather, we should be very grateful to the scientific community that worked so tirelessly since the disease outbreak in December 2019 to find a vaccine for the world’s devastating disease.
Take the vaccine to protect yourself and others. It is not just about you, but about a population.
A safe population is a rich population. Above all, maintain and observe safety protocols for hand washing, masking, and physical distancing even after receiving the vaccine.
Deme-The Simon
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