Vaccines for H1N1 type A virus, otherwise known as Swine Flu, have arrived on the shores of Ghana after initial delays.

Confirming the arrival of the vaccines in the country, Head of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Badu Sarkodie, says the GHS in the Ashanti Region will ensure the students of Kumasi Academy (KUMACA) are vaccinated before school breaks for Christmas on Friday.

“We are aware it [vaccines] has arrived and we are doing everything possible to take delivery and once that is through, we will start vaccinating the students immediately,” he told JoyNews’ Komla Adom.

He assured that, “before school vacates the vaccinating process will go through”.

The vaccines, targeted mainly for students of KUMACA in the Ashanti Regional Capital became urgently necessary after four students of the school perished from contracting viral influenza with many more hospitalized.

The vaccines were scheduled to arrive in the country on Saturday, December 16, but delayed due to packaging constraints in Korea.

The Health Minister had early on stated that the President of the Republic, Nana Akufo-Addo is at risk of contracting the deadly influenza after he visited the school to interact with the students and teachers during their 60th-anniversary celebrations while two students had already died of the virus in that week.

Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has visited the school to interact with the families of the departed students and also promised that the government will absorb the cost of the funeral while making a GHS 5,000 donation to each of the families to cater for arrangements toward that.  

Meanwhile, a disinfection exercise bent on riding the school environment of pathogens and bacteria that cause viral influenza and other diseases is currently underway in the school.

The exercise which started last week has seen classrooms, dormitories, assembly and dining halls, as well as bathrooms of the school, disinfected.

Mr. Felix Danso, Managing Director of Pathos AIB Limited, who are undertaking the disinfecting exercise have assured their activity will have no side effect whatsoever on the students and their teachers.

"That's how natural our product is. You can even disinfect whilst the students are there, unlike other products that are clearly written corrosive [or] toxic. Ours is natural as it can be used in the presence of a baby without any adverse effect but yet deal with the pathogen," he said.