There’s no mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in Ghana – Presidency

The Presidency has maintained that it deems the rollout of an extensive vaccination programme as one of the effective means of reducing the transmission of COVID-19.

In a letter written by the Presidential Advisor on Health, Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare in response to some Ghanaian Doctors opposed to the programme, the Presidency acknowledged the concerns but insisted that the data and science about COVID-19 and vaccination support the government’s view of extensive vaccination.

The doctors wrote to the President calling for a halt to the vaccine mandate across public and private institutions in the country.

But the letter from the Presidency stated that there is no official vaccine mandate.

“Though the position of government with regard to COVID-19 vaccinations, as backed by both local and international sourced data, remains that the covid-19 vaccines are effective in reducing severe or critical sicknesses leading to ICU bed exhaustion, mass hospitalization and deaths, there is no current mandate requiring mandatory vaccine rollouts within the country,” a portion of a letter from the presidency said.

Meanwhile, in another letter to the Presidency, the doctors have raised further concerns about the vaccination programme and insist that contrary to what the Presidency says, the Ghana Health Service has plans of implementing a vaccine mandate.

Ghana’s vaccination efforts have seen 2.9 million of Ghana’s 30 million population fully vaccinated, while 6.6 persons have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

The government declared December 2021 as the month of vaccinations, amid growing concerns of vaccine hesitancy among Ghana’s population.

This has been accompanied by vaccine mandates like the directive to all persons to be vaccinated on arrival at the Kotoka International Airport before they can be permitted to enter the country, as well as persons visiting the Ministry of Health and other government agencies showing proof of vaccination.

This has coincided with the emergence of groups kicking against vaccine mandates, citing the potential for fatal adverse reactions.

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