By Emelia B. Addae
Koforidua Dec. 21, GNA – The five-day mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign in the Eastern Region has ended with the UNICEF monitoring team urging increase education to stimulate demand for the vaccine and booster.
The Ghana Health Service spearheaded the fifth national COVID-19 vaccination campaign, which began on December 14th and ended on December 18th, 2022.
The programme was supported by the German government through the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
During field visits, the UNICEF team in the Eastern Region found that logistics such as syringes, vaccine carriers, and reporting tools were adequate, but noted that transportation logistics for monitoring activities were an issue.
The team told the Ghana News Agency that the region has inadequate motorbikes and cars to commute within and across communities, which compelled vaccination teams to resort to the hiring of motorbikes and other means of transport to reach out to inhabitants.
Therefore, the UNICEF team suggested that health professionals should be given enough mobility logistics, notably motorbikes, to help them reach out to isolated locations.
Concerning people’s hesitation to take the vaccination, the team proposed that public education on the benefits of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine be increased, which may be done on a regular basis at churches, mosques, and community information centres, among other places.
The UNICEF team, headed by officials from the Ghana Health Service, visited several Eastern Regional communities, including Asuboi, Densuano, Coaltar, Otoase, Ohene Kwasi, Nyamekrom, Bepoase, Nkurakan, Trom, Boti, Asesewa, Somanyaa, and Agyikpor.
Ghana is one of ten countries chosen to receive financial and technical assistance from the global COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery Partnership, a multi-partner initiative led by the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, established to assist countries in meeting their overall vaccination targets, particularly in high-priority groups.
GNA