Medical Practitioner and Lawyer, Dr. Justice Yankson has said that any call by the Ghana Health Service for mandatory vaccination would be for the collective safety of members of the public.

The Ghana Health Service on Thursday, December 9, made some modifications to its protocols regarding foreign travel through the Kotoka International Airport.

Accordingly, All persons 18 years-old and above arriving in Ghana will be required to provide evidence of full vaccination for a COVID-19 vaccine.

All unvaccinated Ghanaians and residents of Ghana who are currently outside of the country and intend to return within 14 days from midnight December 12, 2021, are exempted. However, they will be vaccinated on arrival at the airport in Ghana.

Speaking on News Night on Monday, Dr. Justice Yankson explained that depending on the gravity of the coronavirus pandemic, the rights of individuals may be limited legally.

According to him, this practice is common across the globe.

“Right from our Constitution, all the way down to all the bits we have, including the Public Health Act and any Executive Instrument that could be issued along the line, clearly indicates that your personal liberty within the setting of the pandemic cannot be absolute in terms of how you enjoy them. They may have to be curtailed depending on the circumstances to ensure that the common good of all is achieved,” he said.

He noted that the state has a responsibility to protect its citizens, hence the justifiable decision if it calls for mandatory vaccination.

“The safety of all of us is very important to the state so when you decide to behave in a way that will be inimical to the health of the rest of us in the name of your personal liberty, the state will not tolerate that and that is how come the state can put in some measures to protect all of us,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has disclosed that seven more persons infected with the Omicron variant of Covid-19 have been identified in the country. This brings the total number of cases to 41.

Ghana has declared the month of December as the vaccination month as the country is targeting to vaccinate some twenty million people.