President Akufo-Addo has urged Ghanaians to be steadfast in protecting themselves against the spread of the novel coronavirus as the Christmas season draws closer.

Updating the country on the measures taken against the spread of the virus on Wednesday, the President admonished the citizenry to be mindful of health protocols.

“We should be guided by what transpired last Christmas, where there was a sharp spike in the number of COVID infection cases and deaths in the immediate months of January and February 2021. We should avoid the repetition of such a scenario after this year’s Christmas celebration,” he said.

According to him, Ghanaians should hold social events in open spaces, ensure that attendees of events wear facemasks, ensure the compliance of the safety protocols and as much as possible ensure that attendees come to events vaccinated.

This, he said will prevent the unfortunate situation after last year’s Christmas where there was a sharp spike in the number of infection cases and deaths from recurring.

The president said Ghanaians must not shy away from the safety protocols in as much our active cases are now relatively low.

He added that “while Government does its part to secure the necessary numbers of vaccines to help vaccinate all Ghanaians, we cannot afford to disregard the social distancing, hand washing, mask-wearing and enhanced hygiene protocols that have brought us this far. They must continue to be a part and parcel of our daily lives and routines.”

Ghana has so far administered 6,420,973 doses of vaccine out of the 17.7 million the country has taken delivery of.

The country expects to receive an additional 8 million doses by the end of the year and an estimated 26 million doses by the end of December.