Accra, Ghana//-A former Minister of Communications and medical practitioner, Dr Edward Omane Boamah has advised Ghanaians to stick to the Covid-19 safety protocols prescribed by World Health Organisation (WHO) and the government.
According to him, the best vaccine against COVID-19 for everybody living everywhere for now is staying safe and observing the protocols.
Dr Omane Boamah gave the advice when he was responding numerous questions about Covid-19 vaccines posed to him via multimedia platforms.
Notwithstanding the brilliant breakthrough in the COVID vaccine race none of them offer 100% protection even with double dosing, he said.
“Furthermore, did you also know an infected person who recovers is only immune for about eight months as the neutralising antibodies reduce and will require vaccination subsequently? As you well know, it has been confirmed reinfections occur”.
Moreover, so far the Africa Union has only managed to secure less than 400 million vaccines which if given in double doses will cover 200 million people. This translates into roughly four million Ghanaians, according to him,
“This is why government of Ghana needs to outdoor its Vaccine Plan alongside an intense advocacy to ensure adherence to safety protocols. And this is why I say our best vaccine is washing our hands regularly with soap under running water, wearing face masks, using sanitisers and social distancing”.
However Dr Omane Boamah also used the opportunity to urge people to ignore those who seek to diminish confidence in vaccines in general.
He explained: “Vaccines have helped far more than the regrettable isolated cases of harm hence deserve more praise for a great job against Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Hepatitis B and many others.
Already Israel is recording lower COVID infection rates among vaccinated populations”.
With aggressive vaccination, Europe and the US will turn their COVID deaths and ICU congestions around once they vaccinate the elderly and people with preexisting conditions and most importantly achieve above 70% vaccine coverage (herd immunity), he said.
“In Ghana, we have a lot more to do as our cases soar and our already overstretched health system thins further”.
African Eye Report
