President Nana Akufo-Addo used his address on Wednesday to the nation to rubbish misinformation surrounding the coronavirus vaccines.
“The vaccines are safe. They will not harm you. They will protect you and your families,” he said during his address to the nation on Ghana’s management of the coronavirus pandemic.
The president cited erroneous claims that the vaccine could compel one to vote for the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
“Getting vaccinated will not cause you to vote for the NPP in the 2024 elections if you do not want to. This is an outrageous claim. Vaccination cannot change your political preference.”
The government has declared the final month of 2021 as the month of vaccinations, amid growing concerns of vaccine hesitancy among Ghana’s population.
This has been accompanied by vaccine mandates like the directive to all persons to be vaccinated on arrival at the Kotoka International Airport before they can be permitted to enter the country.
With 15 days to the end of the year, President Akufo-Addo still held fast to the goal to vaccinate 20 million by the end of December.
Currently, Ghana has 17.7 million vaccine doses in the country, of which only 6.4 million have been administered.
There are currently 1.7 million fully vaccinated persons in Ghana.
“We are expecting an additional 18,529,090 million doses by the end of the year,” the President said.
With the expected increase in vaccine doses, President Akufo-Addo further stressed that “we have enough vaccines in the system.”
“I encourage each and every one of you to take advantage of this and get vaccinated,” the President said to the nation.
So far, Ghana has detected 131,840 cases of the coronavirus, with 1,253 deaths and 927 active cases.
