Ghana

Doctors, trotro drivers, teachers will be vaccinated first - Dr. Okoe Boye

Saturday, January 23, 2021 at 3:01 PM by Nii Ayi Ayitey 3 min read

- Frontline health workers will receive the Covid-19 vaccine first

- Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye says transport operators and teachers will also be on the list

- President Akufo Addo says there could be a lockdown if cases keep rising

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Frontline health worker would be the first beneficiaries of the Ghana coronavirus vaccination distribution and administration. President Akufo Addo on Tuesday told the annual New Year school government had concluded a technical committee discussion on the vaccine and awaiting action.

Speaking on Joy News, a former deputy health minister, Bernard Oko Boye indicated the county had applied to a world health Organization platform to access the vaccine expected to be available in the first of this year. He disclosed the priority list for vaccination.

“As we speak, there is a technical committee established to look at the criteria for a rollout. Frontline health care workers on the priority risk. Also, the security forces, persons with health conditions and transport operators and teachers because of how they interact with passengers,” he revealed

Read also

Increase in active cases will lead to a national lockdown - Akufo-Addo

A pharmacist and fellow with the center for democratic development, Ghana Kwame Sarpong Asiedu says the country is at risk of recording more Covid 19 deaths if serious efforts are not made to ensure strict compliance with the protocols.

Doctors, trotro drivers, teachers will be vaccinated first - Dr. Okoe Boye (Stock Photo/modified by Arthur)
Source: Facebook

Lockdown

Government is under immense pressure to effect a second lockdown. Ghana’s Coronavirus positivity rate keeps increasing. The Ghana Medical Association has warned of hospitals and Intensive Care Units (ICUs) being overwhelmed by Covid-19 cases.

As at January 11, the number of confirmed active cases – as reported from the website of the Ministry of Health – stands at 1,404.

Figures from the Ministry of Health shows a spike in daily numbers since December – this has been linked to indiscipline, flouting of covid-19 protocols and the elections.

Already, the Ghana Medical Association has warned the public that “their health is in their own hands” and hospitals get overstretched to deal with the surge of the virus.

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A second lockdown will breed crime - Ras Mubarak advices Akufo Addo

One concern has been the cost for testing as well as the lack of contact tracing on the part of the Ministry of Health. These issues, according to the GMA, has led to the increasing spike in Covid cases.

Even as government races to curtail the spread of the virus, suspicions of a suppression of Covid-19 data keeps rising. Journalists and some medical professionals are doubting the figures being churned by the Ministry of Health as they argue that they (the figures) are in sharp contrast with the reality at various medical facilities.

Meanwhile, President Akufo Addo has assured of Ghana’s preparedness to roll out a mass vaccination program against Covid-19. Speaking at his recent Covid-19 address, the president revealed that procurement processes are far advanced to secure millions of vaccine doses in 2021.

This assurance comes as Nigeria, Ghana’s next door neighbor, has recorded a new case of the Covid-19 variant which global scientists fear is more contagious than the Covid-19 we know.