On July 3, 2024, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) launched a nationwide campaign to vaccinate against COVID-19.
As part of a periodic intensification of COVID-19 vaccination, the Service aims to administer at least 500,000 doses of the vaccine to all individuals 18 years of age and older in this nationwide campaign.
In order to provide the COVID-19 vaccine to the target population, vaccination teams would be on hand at several hospitals, clinics, and health centers, according to a statement issued by Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, the Director General of the GHS.
It stated that the team would visit homes, markets, places of worship, mosques, workplaces, and many other locations to provide the immunizations to everyone who qualifies.
The Director General stated that although the nation had made significant strides toward immunizing the target population, there were still populations that had only received partial doses or had not received any doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, making them susceptible to the disease. The COVID-19 vaccine is now a routine vaccination for adults and is available at all vaccination centers nationwide.
He noted that in order to ensure herd immunity, children under the age of 15 who were not eligible for the COVID-19 immunization under national policy also needed to be indirectly protected by the high vaccination rate among adults.
As of June 28, 2024, the GHS reported that 29,191,110 doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been given to the public, with almost 56% of the targeted population having finished the first series.
“As the country strives to increase the population’s immunity and break transmission of the disease, within the contest of gradual increase in cases, it is imperative that all unvaccinated and partially vaccinated individuals prevent any potential surge in the disease incidence and associated ill health and or deaths,”
“The recent increased number of COVID-19 cases in in April and May, 2024, in Ghana is an ample evidence that the disease is not over, we are, therefore, calling on all stakeholders to support this effort by making sure that all eligible persons avail themselves to be vaccinated with the primary series and the boosters to ensure maximum protection.” the statement said.