Coronavirus: Ghana’s weather condition good for vaccine storage – Medical Practitioner

With Ghana expected to receive two approved vaccines; AstraZeneca and Spuntik V by the end of February, there is a growing concern about its storage.

The two approved vaccines are said to have a storage temperature of 22°C.

Asked how prepared the country is with the storage facility ahead of the rollout plan. Medical practitioner at the Lekma Hospital Dr Emmanuel Amankrah in an interview with TV3 indicated that the cold chain in the country so far is suitable for storage.

He says even though one cannot rule out that there are some health facilities in some parts of the country faced with infrastructure challenges, a central plan by government has been put in place for effective storage and distribution.

Deputy General Secretary of the Ghana medical association Dr Titus Beyou however revealed that if storage and distribution is done well, the vaccines could become defective which can lead to some complications.

He says a monitoring system must therefore be put in place alongside the roll-out plan to help report such issues for a thorough investigation.

Many Ghanaians still remain skeptic about taking the jab due to the proliferation of fake news.

Admitting that adequate information has not been given by government, Dr Titus Beyou says taking the jab is the surest way to life returning to normalcy and called on Ghanaians to take advantage of the process.

Ghana so far has an enviable immunization system, Health Minister-designate, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu has said.

He, therefore, told Ghanaians to make themselves available for vaccination against the coronavirus infection when the vaccines arrive in the country.

He said the only way to reduce the rate of infection to the lowest level is through vaccination hence, every individual in the country should accept the immunization.

Speaking at a public engagement on the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out plan in Ghana in Accra on Friday, February 19, the Dormaa Central lawmaker said Ghana has success stories on vaccinations hence, the public should not entertain any fear over the impending COVID-19 vaccination.

“Luckily,” he said, “In Ghana, we have success stories to tell with vaccines in children. Measles, polio, tetanus, we have used vaccines to try to prevent our kids from getting them.

‘So now, vaccines shouldn’t be a new thing for us. The only new thing we are going to add on to the battle that we have fought since last year is the vaccines.

“If we are able to go round to the country and vaccinate everybody we believe our problem with COVID-19 will begin to go down,” he said.