The Greater Accra Regional Health Directorate has launched the 7th national COVID-19 vaccination round to vaccinate all eligible persons to achieve solid immunity against the virus.

The exercise is to move the over three million targeted population in the region towards “herd immunity,” - where people get immunised against the disease for others to benefit from their protection indirectly.

It will also help to avert any future mass spread.

The five-day vaccination exercise, which started on Wednesday, July 19, would end on Sunday, July 23, after the launch at the Pentecost Hospital at Madina, Accra. 

The Acting Deputy Director of Public Health in the Greater Accra Region, Dr Farida Njelba Abdulai said the Directorate had committed a lot of resources to the campaign to ensure maximum coverage of the population.

She said they had targeted to vaccinate over 170, 000 people at the end of the campaign, adding that the logistics had been made available to hit the target barring any disruptions like rainfall.

“We have withdrawn some of our health staff from their other activities to be able to carry out this targeted campaign. If we do that for a prolonged period, other sectors of service would suffer and that is why we scheduled it for five days,” Dr Njelba Abdulai said.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, she said the previous campaigns had been successful and that no more long queues would be experienced because there were more vaccines in the system.

“The phase we are now is just moving around in the communities, get to households, give them the message for the need to vaccinate, vaccinate them and move on and you can see that our cases have gone down,” the Acting Deputy Director said.

She urged the public to continue with the practice of washing hands regularly, using hand sanitisers, and wearing nose masks.

The Municipal Director of Health, La Nkwantanang Madina, Dr Priscilla Anima Poku said the apathy exhibited by the populace in the Municipality about COVID-19 immunisation had been overcome with constant engagement.

She said: “We will continue to go to churches, mosques, markets, traditional authorities and hold durbars to inform the people about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccinations. Through the NCCE we are reaching out to the community members.”

“So far, in La Nkwantanang, we have vaccinated about 38 per cent of the population fully whilst others have taken a dose and the booster.”

In the Greater Accra Region, 50 per cent of the over three million targeted people have been fully vaccinated, 60 per cent have received two doses and a little over 20 per cent have received the booster.

Eligible persons to be vaccinated are all persons, who are 18 years and above and have never been vaccinated, and all persons with the first dose and awaiting the second dose.

Also, pregnant women, who have never received a COVID-19 vaccination.

Booster doses are also available for persons, who have completed a minimum of three months after their primary series of a COVID-19 vaccination.