Accra, March 07, GNA – Calvary Baptist Church Adenta (CBCA), has encouraged her members to go for the COVID-19 vaccination and help break the chain of transmission in the country.
“The vaccine is safe. Go for it. Let’s all go for it to break the chain of transmission to stay alive because Jesus and the Church want us alive,” Mr George Sabblah, a Member of the Medical Team of the Church, said on Sunday at a special ‘COVID-19 vaccination sensitisation’ session.
He said just like all medicines and vaccines, the COVID-19 vaccine had minor side effects lasting for a day or two, which must not prevent the citizenry from vaccination.
“These minor side effects do not last beyond two days and it is not everybody. Only a few people experience itching, fever, headache among others…let’s all go for the vaccine to stay alive,” Mr Sabblah, who is a Pharmacist, said.
He said so far, over 90 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine had been administered globally with no “major side effects” and encouraged Christians to take advantage of government’s intervention to stay safe.
Pastor Michael Addo, a Pastoral Assistant, in the Church, charged the members to be, “God’s witness in this time of COVID-19 and LGBTQI.”
“We are living in dangerous times. The world is running towards destruction and we need to rise up to witness for God,” he stated.
The Reverend Francis Narterh, Senior Pastor of the Church, last month, asked members who were unwilling to wear face masks not to come to church.
He re-emphasised the directive against hand shaking and waving of handkerchiefs during church services and said, “The Church is not joking with observance of COVID-19 protocols.”
Rev. Narterh said the Church was prepared to give face masks to members and visitors who were without them but those unwilling to wear the masks properly should stay away.
He said the strict enforcement of the protocols was to help contain the spread of the virus in view of the increasing cases being recorded in the country.
“We are not joking with this. It is hitting harder so if you’re not feeling well, go and check. It is free. If we record any case here, there will be contact tracing and you know what that means for the Church. So let’s all try and follow the protocols and may God give us all the grace, Amen,” he stated.
He said though the Church had not recorded any case, it was important that the protocols were enforced strictly and members constantly reminded to ensure the safety of all.
“Our dedicated apartment for suspected cases is empty. Never used and we are happy but we must not drop our guard. Our medical committee is monitoring every step and we are committed to protecting all our members and visitors,” Rev. Narterh added.
The Ghana News Agency observed that all congregants were in face masks and had their temperatures taken before allowed entry into the auditorium.
Their names and contacts also taken.
During the sensitisation session, an elder of the Church, said he had taken the first jab of the vaccine and encouraged all members in the first target group to go for theirs.
A total of 69,820 persons have been vaccinated against COVID-19 from March 02 to 04 in the 43 selected districts in Accra, Kumasi, and the Central region, according to data from the Ghana Health Service (GHS).
The persons include front-line health workers, adults aged 60 years and above, people with underlining health conditions such as diabetes, kidney diseases, hypertension, cancer, frontline security personnel, frontline government officials, the media, and all front-line workers in the formal sector.
In all, a total of 20 million Ghanaians are expected to be vaccinated against the virus.
Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, Director of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service (GHS), reportedly said, people who were vaccinated with the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine would start building immunity against the coronavirus two weeks after taking the first jab.
He said even after the first dose, it was possible for persons who were exposed to severe coronavirus to still get infected , hence the need for everyone to observe social distancing, wear a nose masks, use alcohol based hand sanitizer and wash hands with soap under running water frequently.
A vaccine is a substance used to stimulate the production of antibodies and provide immunity against one or several diseases.
It is prepared from the causative agent of a disease; its products are treated to act as an antigen without inducing the disease.
Experts say it typically takes a few weeks for the body to build immunity (protection against the virus that causes COVID-19) after vaccination, meaning it is possible a person could be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 just before or just after vaccination and still get sick.
Based on existing knowledge on vaccines for other diseases and early data from clinical trials, experts believe that getting a COVID-19 vaccine may also help keep one from getting seriously ill even if you do get COVID-19.
If one gets vaccinated, it may also protect people around him or her, particularly, people at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
The Government of Ghana on Wednesday, February 24, 2021, received the first batch of 600,000 AstraZeneca Coronavirus vaccine at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra.
GNA