An Immunologist and Research Fellow of the West Africa Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens at the University of Ghana has called for a swift implementation of coronavirus vaccines in Ghana.

According to him, the vaccine may not be effective should Ghana delay to take action to stop the virus, hence he is calling for a need for multiple approaches.

“As an Immunologist, somebody who has studied the virus, we all understand how quickly we need to deploy because the virus is constantly changing. If we are too slow, the virus will change and we will have to transfigure out things all over again.”

Former Deputy Minister for Health, Dr Bernard Okoe-Boye had said “Health workers are high on the list, and secondly, the security service because of their interactions with citizens.”

“I also know that the elderly who can prove underlying conditions like heart diseases, then there are transport operators and people who engage in public activities like teachers, who have to mingle with kids,” he stated.

Speaking on Joy Newsfile Saturday, he said the country has a great plan, however, “it is going to come down to the implementation and I am sure that people are beginning to think through how many people you would need to roll this out.” 

He noted that there must be a clear plan in Ghana's discourse as the country cannot “rely solely on the existing infrastructure because you are going to have to deploy people in a much aggressive, in a much faster rate than you typically do.”

Ghana is expectant of receiving some vaccines in March to fight the novel coronavirus, however, there is some section of Ghanaians with doubts about the effectiveness of the vaccine.

But, Dr Bediako, together with three other experts wants the general public to debunk any negative view on the vaccines, especially from people portraying as medical professionals on social media.

He said people must have “confidence that even though it is an emergency situation, we are not rushing out to use something that is untested.”

“When you hear somebody on YouTube video, on Facebook, wearing a white coat, saying they are a doctor, presenting certain claims, do the due diligence on those people,” he advised.

He further suggested that people should utilise the internet whenever they are unsure of information and avoid consuming everything they hear.

“On this show [Newsfile], at least you’ve got four of us with the title doctor in front of our names, you can google each of us.

"You can search for what we have done and you can vouch for our credentials to decide whether Yaw Bediako is somebody worth listening to,” he said.

“Do the same for the people who you see in those videos claiming different things about vaccines, oftentimes you would find out, I believe they belong to groups known for this kind of rhetoric,” he added.

In an age of fake news, he advised, “We each have to do a little more due diligence, we cannot believe everything we see on TV, we cannot just believe somebody when they look grey-haired, wearing a white coat or may sound intelligent.” 

“A lot of the times, unfortunately, the people who makes the most noise are actually the people we should pay least attention to,” Dr Bediako cautioned.