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HEALTH

Over 1,500 people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in EKMA

A total of 1,565 people have been vaccinated with the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of October 5, 2021, in the Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipal Assembly (EKMA) in the Western Region.

Date Created : 11/5/2021 12:00:00 AM : Story Author : GNA

Meanwhile, 13,841, people out of the estimated eligible population of 170,480 have been vaccinated with the first dose.

Mrs Joyce Bagina Sutherland, Municipal Health Director for EKMA who confirmed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency said vaccination of health workers and the general population was ongoing in the various communities in the Municipality for both first and second doses.

However, she mentioned reluctance on the part of some residents to go for the vaccine, myths and negative perceptions about the vaccine on social media, and high preference for the Johnson & Johnson single dose as some challenges facing the vaccination exercise.

She announced that the Johnson & Johnson single dose was currently not available and, therefore, called on the members in the Municipality who took the first dose and were due for the second dose to go for the second dose to get full protection" while those who did not get the opportunity for the first dose to go for it to get protected.

Mrs Sutherland mentioned that the vaccination exercise was going on at the various health facilities such as the Kwesimintsim Government Hospital, Jemima Hospital, Astoria Health Centre, and other designated places within the Municipality.

She also implored Assembly members for the various Electoral Areas to mobilize their respective community members and liaise with the Municipal Health Directorate to ensure that people above 18 years, excluding pregnant women, were vaccinated since it was the only way to drive away the disease from the Municipality and the nation at large.

Giving a quarterly report on the pandemic in the Assembly, she said the third quarter of 2021 the Assembly recorded a total of 110 confirmed COVID-19 cases of which one of the patients who was critically ill was referred to the Treatment Centre in Effia-Nkwanta Regional hospital where she, unfortunately, died.

Meanwhile, the cumulative number of COVID-19 positive cases since the beginning of the pandemic in the Municipality as of the end of September 2021, stood at 680, with 663 recoveries/discharges, four deaths, and 13 active cases.

Mrs Sutherland announced that the Municipal Health Directorate took delivery of 112,650 Long Lasting Insecticide Treated Nets (LLINs) for distribution to households who had registered for them.