President Akufo-Addo says the Ghana Health Service has administered 6,420,973 doses of vaccine so far, out of the 17.7 million the country has taken delivery of.

The President said this during the 27^th update on measures taken against the spread of coronavirus in the country.

“So far, we have been able to administer only 6,420,973 doses out of the 17.7 million we have at our disposal,” the President said.

He added that the country is expecting to receive an additional 8 million doses by the end of the year and an estimated 26 million doses by the end of December.

The President noted that the government is committed to vaccinating twenty million Ghanaians by the end of the year.

“Indeed, as at yesterday, Tuesday, 14th December, the Ghana Health Service has taken delivery of 17,736,710 vaccine doses. We are expecting an additional 8,529,090 doses by the end of the year. Fortunately, in recent months, the supply situation has improved considerably, and we estimate that, by the end of December, we would have secured a total of some 26 million doses,” he noted.

President Akufo- Addo urged Ghanaians to ignore the mischievous claims about the vaccine and go for their jabs.

According to him, getting the jab will not harm persons but rather protect them from the virus. He said vaccination is the best route out of the pandemic.

“Let me state, as clearly as I can. The vaccines are safe. They will not harm you. They will protect you and your family. Contrary to the mischief being peddled by some, getting vaccinated will not cause you to vote for the NPP in the 2024 election if you do not want to. This is an outrageous claim. Vaccination cannot change your political preference,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has said it is not likely to meet its target of vaccinating 15 million people before the end of 2021.

Manager of the Expanded Programme of Immunisation at the GHS, Dr. Kwame Amponsah Achiano, revealed this at a leadership dialogue series organised by the Centre for Social Justice.

“To be frank with you, the focus of the programme is to get people, who are yet to be vaccinated, to do so. We thought we could do about 15 million before the end of the year, but if you look at the trajectory, it may not be likely that we would achieve that.”

“We are putting together the plan and eventually it has to go to the COVID-19 taskforce for ratification before we do that; so it is in the plan,” he said