The Ghana Health Service (GHS) says it will continue the vaccination of more eligible persons in the country to ensure it achieves the herd immunity tartget among the poluace.
A 5-day 7th National Covid-19 vaccination days campaign according to the Service will begin from Wednesday, July 19, 2023, to Sunday July 23, to ensure that Ghana attains a herd immunity against the disease in the likelihood of periodic spikes.
Herd immunity, also known as population immunity, is the indirect protection from an infectious disease that happens when a population is immune either through vaccination or immunity developed through a previous infection.
However, the WHO supports achieving herd immunity through vaccination, rather than allowing the disease to spread through any segment of the population, as this would result in unnecessary cases and deaths.
To safely achieve that against COVID-19, a substantial proportion of Ghanaians would need to be vaccinated, lowering the overall amount of virus able to spread in the whole population. This helps to keep vulnerable groups who cannot get vaccinated (e.g. due to health conditions like allergic reactions to the vaccine) safe and protected from the disease.
As of Monday, July 17, 2023, Ghana had one active case with over 4 million persons yet to take a dose of the vaccine.
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The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) announcement that the disease is no longer a global health emergency, health experts believe, might have generated misinformation leading to a decline in the vaccine dose.
Director.General of the GHS, Dr. Patrick Kumah Aboagye speaking with the media urged the citizenry to continue taking the jab to propel Ghana’s herd immunity target.
He advised those who haven’t taken the shot to take advantage of the upcoming exercise to get vaccinated.
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