国际英语新闻:Ghana to vaccinate 20 mln people against COVID-19 from March

ACCRA, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Ghana will begin to vaccinate some 20 million persons against COVID-19 from the first week of March, said Kwame Amponsa-Akyianu, Ghana's program manager for the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) on Friday.

Speaking at an engagement on Ghana's COVID-19 roll-out plan, he observed that the vision of the country is to vaccinate the entire population of about 31 million but will begin with 20 million and vaccinate the remaining population in due course.

Amponsa-Akyianu disclosed that the country had gone through all the required processes and will receive its first consignment of 350,000 COVID-19 vaccines by next week to pave way for the vaccination exercise to take place next month.

"Our vision as a country is to vaccinate the entire population. We are expecting a total of 350,000 COVID-19 vaccines to arrive in the country by Feb. 22 to pave way for the vaccination in the first week of March. The exercise will continue till October this year," he said.

The EPI program manager explained Ghana's vaccination program will be carried out in three phases in which frontline health workers, persons with underlying conditions, frontline security personnel, members of the legislature, executive, and judiciary will be among the first set of individuals to receive the vaccine.

The next group of persons to be vaccinated in the second phase are workers of water and electricity companies, teachers, students, farmers, and all those involved in the country's food value chain while all persons 18 years, as well as pregnant women, will have their vaccination done in phase three of the exercise.

He assured Ghana has a comprehensive plan for the COVID-19 vaccination roll out and appealed to all to support the government in the exercise.

Ghana's health minister-designate Kwaku Agyeman Manu observed government was concerned with the safety of its citizens at all times and will not be left out in getting the right vaccines to protect the people against the virus.

He observed a lot of stakeholder engagement had taken place between the government and its partners and assured the fight against the pandemic will be won if the people were vaccinated.

"If we are able to go around the country to vaccinate everyone, our battle at defeating the pandemic would be won," Agyeman Manu said.