Taking the coronavirus vaccine is non-negotiable - Frema Opare

Ghana's Chief of Staff, Frema Osei Opare, has said that the coronavirus vaccination is a non-negotiable exercise that Ghanaians should embrace.

She said that with the act of leadership that the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, vice president, Mahamudu Bawumia, and their respective wives showed on Monday when they took the first shots live on TV, it should clear all doubts that people have about the vaccine.

She said that with even more dignitaries like herself showing up to take the jabs, it should be reason enough for all to step out gladly to go take their jabs when the opportunity is presented to them.

Besides, she said, had people who have succumbed to the virus had the opportunity to be vaccinated, they could have still been alive today.

She made this known in an interview with a cross-section of the media at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (Ridge Hospital) minutes after she took her coronavirus shot on Tuesday, March 2, 2021.

"It's important that we encourage all and sundry who have been given opportunity in this first batch to avail themselves to it and then hopefully, when we get the next batch, the next group will be attended to.

"But it is important for all of us to realize that health is important: we must take our lives seriously. I know people who have died; people I'm close to so I know the pain it has inflicted on their families and friends. If they had this opportunity, they will be alive today for all of us to be together. So for me, it is not a negotiable thing," she stressed.

Ghana, on Wednesday, February 24, 2021, became the first country in the world to receive the first batch of AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccines from the COVAX facility in India.

The 600,000 doses received are expected to go to health workers, adults above 60 years, people with underlying health conditions, frontline executive, the legislature, the judiciary and their related staff, frontline security personnel, some religious leaders, essential workers, teachers and other professionals.