The former head of the Virology Department of Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research says it is wishful thinking to say that Covid-19 will be gone by December.

Professor William Ampofo said the virus has come to stay, and there is no cure for now.

"We do not have a cure yet for Covid-19, so we must brace ourselves to live with the virus," he told Joy News.

Seventeen months after Ghana recorded its first coronavirus related death, the number of casualties has crossed 1000.

In its latest update, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) revealed that as of August 23, 1,008 people have died after contracting the virus.

There could be more deaths as 149 cases are said to be severe while 62 others are in critical conditions.

The number of new cases recorded is 599 bringing the total number of cases recorded to 117,040. 

Meanwhile, active cases are at 6905. Every region in the country as of August 23 have active cases, with the Greater Accra Region is leading with 4,605 and North East Region coming last with one case.

Professor Ampofo, who is also secretary to government national vaccine institute committee, told JoyNews, the vaccines only seek to manage the symptoms of the virus, but the virus has come to stay.

"Unfortunately, Covid-19 has come to stay, and of all the things we are doing, we are hoping that it will become like influenza or less, but this is a new virus, and we are not saying that it will go away, but we are preparing to manage it using the tools that we have now and understanding the challenges we have had with influenza. 

"And that is why the use of vaccines is a very important process. As we understand the virus and as it stays in the human environment, we have to look to the worst-case scenario and try and find the appropriate vaccine that can manage this infection; we think that Covid-19 will not go away in December.

"We are looking for the right tools to manage it so long as it continues to cause serious mortalities. It is wishful thinking to imagine that Covid-19 will go away; it will not. We are managing it to bring it under control so that we can have it as less of a public health risk to our social and economic activities.’ He stressed.

But in the midst of the gloom, there is some good news, especially for those yet to be vaccinated, because a consignment of Pfizer and Modena have arrived in the country for mass vaccination.

Presidential Adviser on Health, Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare, told JoyNews there are over 300 ultra-cold fridges across the country to store the vaccine.

According to him, government has secured Modena, Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines for mass vaccination starting on August 31, 2021.

He indicates over 300 ultra-cold refrigerators have been procured and stationed across the country to store the doses.

"We need more vaccines for Covid-19, and luckily we have first does of Modena and Pfizer; GHS has also improved the cooling system.

"We have more storage facilities, including vans across the country and, so we are ready to distribute all the vaccines. This is in line with a government target to vaccinate 20 million Ghanaians by the end of 2021," he indicated.