President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has assured that Ghana will have access to the newly developed COVID-19 vaccine which he said will be effective and safe.
The President said he has put together a team of experts from relevant institutions and agencies “who are working assiduously towards the procurement and deployment of the vaccines in the country.”
The recent news of emergency approval of COVID-19 vaccines by the Foods and Drugs Administration, United States of America and the medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, United Kingdom, President Akufo-Addo said provides considerable optimism and hope for the world in the battle to defeat the pandemic.
Addressing the nation on measures taking against the spread of the coronavirus Sunday, President Akufo-Addo said he was aware of the anxiety of some Ghanaians relating to the safety and efficacy of newly developed vaccines.
President Akufo-Addo said despite the genuine fears of many, that the country would see a surge in COVID-19 cases during and after the December 7 elections, the country has, on the contrary, witnessed a stable daily rate of infections of between 130 and 100 cases.
He said the total number of active cases has reduced marginally from 1,139 as of Friday, November 6 to 946 as of Friday, December 18.
In his Update No. 19, delivered on November 8, the President indicated that the country was recording an average of 130 new cases of infections daily and urged all Ghanaians not to let their guard down.
“It has been six weeks since that last update, we have had a vigorous political campaign season we’ve elected a President, and 275 Members of Parliament by over 13 million Ghanaians across some 38,000 polling stations in accordance with effective safety protocols put in place by the Electoral Commission (EC).”
The country’s hospitalisation rate, President Akufo-Addo indicated, continues to be very low while the treatment centres remained virtually empty.
As per data from the Ghana Health Service (GHS), some regions at the moment have no recorded active cases.
President Akufo-Addo said the country’s healthcare workers had so far seen to 52, 675 recoveries.
Unfortunately, 13 more deaths from COVID-19 and its complications have been recorded, bringing the total deaths to 333 out of the 53, 954 confirmed cases.
Available data reveals that the classes of infected cases that Ghanaians experienced in the country are linked largely, to confined indoor spaces with poor ventilation, workplaces, offices, factories, schools and arriving passengers at the country’s airport.
Rex Mainoo Yeboah, ISD
