Ashanti Regional health directorate targets 20 districts for COVID-19 vaccination

The Ashanti Regional health directorate has held media engagement to encourage the public to accept and participate in the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination exercise as the public hesitancy is becoming unbearable.

The Directorate in the beginning of this year 2023 has been engaging traditional leaders, religious leaders and various traders union on a strategy to reach out to the larger population due to their leadership and influential roles in society.

It has consequently met the journalists in Kumasi to solicit the support from their various radio and television programs in the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination exercise which is set to start tomorrow, 8th February and end on 13th February, 2023.

The journalists drawn from both the radio and Tv stations were urged to help spread the importance of taking the vaccine.

The aim of the exercise is to achieve herd immunity and also protect many people as possible to take the vaccine in order to meet their target.

However, The Ashanti Regional Director of Ghana Health Services, Emmanuel Tinkorang at a meeting with the media in Kumasi, reminded the participants that the fight was not over, and for that reason, the engagement was necessary because the transmission of the disease thrived on human-to-human activities which was most likely to increase if care is not taking.

He disclose that, about 20 populated districts in the Ashanti Region will be targeted during this exercise.

Dr Emmanuel Tinkorang said, a total of 4,055,244 has been administered while at least 1,662,443 is fully vaccinated, 2,363,484 has at least have received one dose, representing 73.4%.

The Regional Director said the target of the Directorate was to achieve herd immunity by vaccinating at least 70 per cent of the population in the Region, disclosing that only 51.6 per cent had been fully vaccinated.

He said vaccination was the surest way for protection against COVID-19 and urged the media to use their medium to speak against vaccine hesitancy.