42% of Covid vaccines wasted as Volta residents resist vaccination

Residents of the Volta Region in Ghana are resisting being vaccinated against the Covid-19 pandemic, a situation which is leading to the wastage of vaccines, the authorities have said.

Available statistics from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) indicate that only 28.1 per cent of the population of the Volta Region has been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

This makes the region the least vaccinated out of the 16 regions.

Also, about 42 per cent of the 2.1 million doses of vaccines that were supplied to the region, have all gone waste.

According to the GHS, the low turnout for vaccination in the region is due to the low-risk perception of the disease, disinformation, misinformation, misconception, misunderstanding of the president’s directive on the wearing of masks, staff fatigue and open threats by some community members.

Ahead of the GHS’s planned mass vaccination which begins today, Wednesday, 14 December 2022, the GHS undertook a stakeholder engagement across the region to create awareness among residents about the essence of getting vaccinated.

The Acting Volta Regional Director of the GHS, Dr Senanu Kwesi Djokoto, bemoaned the wastage of vaccine doses due to the situation.

Dr Djokoto said: “So, for every 100 vaccines that we receive, as many as 42 are going to waste.”

He urged residents of the region to get vaccinated during the mass vaccination exercise and was optimistic that more residents of the region would take part in the exercise this time round.

“We are hoping that we are able to cover a lot of people because we know what happens in festivities,” Dr Djokoto stated.

The GHS announced it will embark on a mass vaccination exercise for citizens who have not been vaccinated ahead of the festive season.

This was announced by the Director-General of the GHS, Dr Patrick Kumah Aboagye.

The GHS Director-General also dispelled assertions that the Pfizer vaccine to be used during the mass vaccination exercise had expired.

He stressed that the Pfizer vaccine has a lifespan of 15 months.

“The current expiry [date] for Pfizer is 15 months and not 12 months. The news that we are administering the expired vaccine is not true,” he said.

The vaccination exercise will be held on the theme: ‘Protect yourself, protect your family, get vaccinated against COVID-19 ahead of the festive season.’

The GHS is hoping to vaccinate about 1.4 million people.

The exercise is expected to end on Sunday, 18 December 2022.