Mr Prince Atta Amanfo, Wassa East District Health Promotion Officer has appealed to all those who have received their second dose of the COVID-19 jab more than three months to go for a booster dose to enable them to acquire extra immunity.
He also implored those who have received the Johnson and Johnson single dose for more than three months to go for a booster dose to enable them to acquire maximum immunity.
Mr Amanfo made the appeal at a day’s training workshop organized by the Wassa East District Health Directorate in the Western Region in collaboration with the Information Services Department (ISD), for operators of Community Information Centers to help speed up the COVID-19 vaccination sensitization drive.
Speaking at the training, the District Director of Health, Mr Emmanuel Aflekum said the COVID-19 vaccination sensitization training was imperative since it will go a long way to correct the negative perception circulating in the communities and encourage people to come out and take the vaccines.
According to him, the information centers were credible sources of information at the rural and community level since the people can identify with the operators hence the engagement.
He mentioned that the operators would be expected to help other community members to locate where to get the vaccines.
He indicated that the government have spent millions of taxpayers money to import the vaccines and there was the need for the people to take it to protect themselves from the virus as well as to prevent wastage of the vaccines.
For his part, the District Information Officer, Mr Frank Kwabena Danso schooled participants on the basic ethics of communication and admonished the operators to use their platform to help build their communities in the area of health, agriculture and education.
Touching on the availability of the vaccine, the District Disease Control Officer, Ms Patience Asantua hinted that the Health Directorate has so far received 67,237 COVID-19 vaccines of Astrazeneca, Modena, Pfizer and Johnson and Johson for an estimated eligible population of 71,504.
Out of this figure, 22,482 have been fully vaccinated and 53,705 receiving one dose of the vaccines.
