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The Ghana Health Service (GHS) will begin Phase B of the Mass Preventive Vaccination Campaign against Yellow Fever (PMVC) to immunize the public against the disease in two districts of the Volta region.
The one-week exercise began November 12-18, 2020 in Akatsi North and Agotime-Ziope and would be carried out in 85 districts in 14 regions across the country.
Anthony Mawuli Pani, Volta Regional Coordinator, Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI), who revealed this at a press conference in Ho, said that 42,683 and 36,721 people were expected to be immunized in Akatsi North and Agotime-Ziope, respectively.
He said the goal of the exercise was to increase the population’s immunity against disease and protect susceptible older age groups in selected high-risk areas.
He said that according to the World Health Organization the vaccine was for life and would be administered to people between 10 and 60 years old, and revealed that an estimated 200,000 cases of yellow fever and 30,000 deaths annually had been recorded throughout the world.
Pani said that 85 percent of people with the disease could be asymptomatic, while 15 percent were seriously affected with up to 50 percent death, therefore, “vaccination is the main stay.”
The Coordinator noted that vaccination was not a specific treatment but rather to manage the disease conditions for better recovery.
Pani said that pregnant women would not receive doses during exercise because the vaccine could cause a defect in the child.
Mrs. Patricia Mawufemor Baku, Regional Head of Health Promotion, called on citizens to avail themselves of vaccination and offered the maximum support to the authorities that carry out the exercise to achieve the desired objective.
He said that all preventive protocols for COVID-19 would be strictly observed for the safety of the public and healthcare personnel, and urged the public to continue to comply with all necessary protocols so that “together we can end this pandemic.”
Source: GNA
