Polio immunisation: So far so good at Ashiedu Keteke Sub-Metro

Dr Jude Kweku Adomako, in charge of the poliomyelitis vaccination in the Ashiedu Keteke Sub-Metro of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, has described the ongoing immunisation in the area as good and positive.

“This year’s exercise has been a lot easier. Community reception has been good because volunteers went ahead of time to sensitise community members on the exercise,” he told the Ghana News Agency in an interview.

The vaccination, which is taking place in eight regions across Ghana, is meant to boost the immunity of under-five-year children against the non-wild polio virus.

Mr Adomako, who is also the Acting Medical Director of the Ussher Polyclinic, said the Sub-Metro saw a high turnout on the first two days of the exercise and commended stakeholders for the feat.

He said out of the 29,837 children under-five years in the catchment area, a total of 14,725 were immunised on September 10, first day of the exercise, and 8,198 on September 11, the second day, totaling, 22,923 by close of Friday, September 11.

Dr Adomako commended all stakeholders for the community mobilisation and provision of necessary logistics.

He, however, expressed concern about a few incidents of parents refusing to allow their children to take the vaccine due to misconceptions that they could get stomach upsets and that a second dose of the vaccine would be an overdose.

“The vaccine is safe. And a second dose is not an overdose,” Dr Adomako said.

As part of measures to avoid the spread of COVID-19, all volunteers, supervisors, and other health workers involved in the exercise wore face masks, used sanitizers, and observed social distancing.

Dr Mame Yaa Nyarko, the Medical Superintendent of the Princess Marie Louise Children’s Hospital in the Sub-Metro, said a vaccination team was at the Hospital to administer the polio vaccine to children who could not take it at home.

“We provide health education in the mornings to users of the Hospital about the polio disease and the need to get every child immunised,” he said.

Ms Gladys Opoku, a Community Health Nurse, and a vaccinator, said there had been isolated cases of some parents rejecting the vaccine.

“Some of the parents think it is coronavirus vaccine that we want to test on their children, so they refused it,” she said.

Madam Rachel Owusu, a parent residing at Ngleshie, said all the children in her house below five years had received the vaccine.

“In the past, you will see many people paralyzed due to polio infection. Now because of vaccination you hardly see any. So, all parents should get involved in this immunization exercise to prevent children from the polio disease,” she said.

The Ashiedu Keteke Sub-Metro is made up of seven zones including Bukom, Ngleshie, Adedenkpo, Korle Worko, Makola, Agbogbloshie and Kokomba.

The first round of the immunisation exercise is from September 10 to 13, which will be followed by the second round from October 8 to 11, 2020, across the eight selected regions.