About 42% of the over 2.1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines supplied to the Volta Region have gone waste due to high hesitancy.
Statistics from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) also indicates that only 28.1% of the region’s population have been fully vaccinated, making it the least covered among the 16 regions in the country.
The Service blamed the low coverage on misunderstanding of the President’s directive on mask wearing, staff fatigue, open threats by some community members, low risk perception, misinformation, misconception, and disinformation, among others.
In view of this, GHS embarked on stakeholders engagement across the region to enlighten residents about the importance of getting vaccinated.
A similar exercise was done in Adidome in the Central Tongu District where only 24% of the population have been fully vaccinated, the second least covered district in the region.
This was in preparation for a mass vaccination campaign which would span between 14th December to 20th December, 2022 across the Volta Region.
Speaking to the media, the acting Volta Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Senanu Kwesi Djokoto, lamented the vaccine hesitancy, which had led to incidents of the doses going waste.
He asserted that the stakeholder’s engagements coupled with measures are correcting the misinformation and misconceptions, exposing people to the significance of the vaccine and allaying their fears.
He expressed optimism the number of vaccinated people would increase significantly in the near future.
He classified the vaccine wastage into two; open vial wastage where a vaccinator is not able to complete an opened vial, and the close vial wastage where vaccines expire due to non-usage.
“So for every 100 vaccines that we receive, as many as 42 are going waste”, he said.
Dr Djokoto implored people in the Volta Region to get vaccinated during the mass campaign to fortify themselves as Christmas approaches.
“We are hoping that we are able to cover a lot of people [during the mass vaccination exercise] because we know what happens in festivity.
“A lot of merrymaking, people coming together and some may not adhere to all the protocols. In this circumstances, what can help will be we being protected by the vaccine. So we are encouraging everybody to take the vaccine,” he appealed.
About 104,000 persons are targeted to receive at least a dose of the COVID-19 vaccines during the mass vaccination exercise between December 14th and December 20th, 2022.