More education needed in rolling out COVID-19 booster

Dr Anita Dumelo, a Medical Officer at the Madina Polyclinic, has called for effective education in rolling out the COVID-19 booster vaccines.

She said despite all the education on COVID -19 vaccines and boosters, people were still unaware of the boosters and even the vaccines.

Dr Dumelo made these remarks at the launch of the “Bingwa” (meaning Champions) Initiative in Accra.

The initiative seeks to re-invigorate the vaccination process in Ghana, where influencers would be unveiled to commence the awareness creation and help drive increased vaccination in Africa.

Bingwas are youth vaccination champions recruited to advocate for COVID-19 vaccination, and mobilise their friends, families, and communities to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Dr Dumelo reiterated, “As you can all bear witness, even someone in the capital is unaware of the COVID-19 booster, so we need to educate people more and more on the boosters and vaccines as well.”

Dr Dumelo said the boosters were equally important as the first and second doses of the vaccine, and it was needed to help fight against the COVID-19 infection.

She said it was important that individuals who had not taken their vaccines and boosters yet should do so, and for those, who decided to take the double doses, yet have taken just the first, should endeavour to take the boosters as well.

Mr Alswel Lamptey, Project Coordinator, Ghana Bingwa Initiative, said it has become necessary because despite the WHO target to vaccinate 70 per cent of the world’s population by end of June2022, only 22.1 per cent of the total African population (2022 estimates) have been partially vaccinated and only 19.2 per cent fully vaccinated.

This has led to the conceptualization of the “AU COVID-19 Vaccination BINGWA Initiative” as part of the Africa CDC’s wide Programme of Saving Lives and Livelihoods. The initiative seeks to establish a network of COVID-19 vaccination youth champions across the continent to accelerate the uptake of COVID-19 vaccination in Africa.

He said the initiative was established to scale up peer-to-peer vaccination drive in communities, which sought to establish a network of COVID-19 vaccination youth champions across the continent to accelerate the uptake of COVID-19 vaccination in Africa.

Baba Sadiq, Founder of 3MEDIA Networks, advised Ghanaians, who have not gotten their vaccines to do so, because the effects of the virus was dangerous and deadly.

He said this engagement was prudent, as it would inform a lot of people, who were ignorant about the vaccines and boosters, and help disseminate information to them.

Mr Derrick Osei Kuffour Prempeh, a Ghanaian artiste popularly known as “Kofi Jamar” said, he was affected by the virus and that, he saw himself as someone to lead the youth in his area to enable them to subscribe to the “BINGWA Initiative” because people thought it was a myth.

He reiterated that, “You know, we want to spearhead this ourselves to let them know that it is real, and they have to take the jabs, so that we do not catch a second wave of lockdown.”

“The first wave of lockdown really affected me a lot and I do not want that to happen again,” he added.
He urged the citizenry to go all out to take the COVID-19 vaccines and boosters in order not to give room for another lockdown.