The Caretaker Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah says the final details regarding the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines in the country would be announced by President Akufo-Addo.
Speaking at a press briefing, Monday, on the surge in Covid-19 cases, Oppong Nkrumah indicated that short of an address by the president himself on the matter, a designated state officer will make the announcement.
His comments come after the need for vaccines has become necessary in view of the recent spike in active cases.
Presently, the country has 3,286 active cases, 679 new cases and 367 deaths according to a Ghana Health Service (GHS) report.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah explained that should the numbers continue to rise, a lockdown may be imminent.
“Yes there is a possibility of some more restrictions being introduced. If these numbers keep going, then we are heading for some more restrictions and if it means reviewing some of the legal instruments, yes that is where we will be heading,” he stated.
He, therefore, urged the general public to comply strictly with the Covid-19 safety protocols laid out by the government.
“We are being reminded that we all need to do the things that we did in the beginning so we can quickly curb this third rise. The dynamics of this third rise appear to be a bit different from the first two that we had. Including the number of people who are falling sick,” he added.
According to the former Information Minister, the subcommittee of the Covid-19 response taskforce working on policies on vaccines has submitted a proposal to the national taskforce for further deliberation.
Meanwhile, Former Deputy Minister for Health, Dr Bernard Okoe-Boye has given an indication that government has made arrangements to procure the vaccines on two levels.
"What we doing now is that there are 2 routes; we have the global platform that has been created by the WHO, called the COVACS facility (the Corona Virus Access Platform)...They are allowing low to middle-income countries who might not be rich as the West to access this platform.
This, he explained, would allow Ghana to receive vaccines for 20% of our population, "But for the rest of the 80%, you have to source pay yourself.
"So we have applied to that platform. They will start disbursing [this] first quarter to countries that have applied.
"We are also exploring the bilateral route some top government officials... are talking to some of the manufacturing companies, looking at buying them from some directly," he revealed.
He further explained that priority on the list are health workers, security personnel, the elderly and those with underlying health conditions.
In response to the above, Oppong Nkrumah, however, said that a final decision is yet to be taken on the matter as it was still being deliberated upon.
"I will like to inform you that is not the case. Those are proposals from the subcommittee which would later be sent to the Taskforce for some final decisions or possible modifications," he stated.
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