Ghanaians have been reassured by Minister of Health Kwaku Agyeman Manu that the government is making every effort to obtain pediatric immunizations for the nation.
The countrywide lack of vaccines, according to him, will end very soon.
The Minister, however, was unable to give a specific time for the arrival of the vaccines in the nation during a press conference in Accra.
He said: “Permit me to quote from a WHO recent publication on the subject that puts the challenge we are dealing with into perspective: Ghana’s Ministry of Health has been making efforts to ensure we secure adequate stocks of vaccines despite this global challenge.
“We have made all necessary efforts to ensure that despite these challenges we secure adequate stocks within the next few weeks. It is important to correct the erroneous impression that there have been deaths from Measles in Ghana recently. For the avoidance of doubt, there have been no deaths from the recently recorded spike in Measles cases. Indeed there have no deaths since 2003 though we have recorded cases annually.
“Finally, despite this challenge, Ghana’s immunization performance coverage remains among the best in the world. In 2021 we recorded 95% coverage.
“Working with UNICEF, we are fast-tracking the processes and it is expected that the vaccines would be supplied in the next few weeks All things being equal. The Ministry of Health will ensure that we stay on track with our immunization record and quickly overcome this bottlenecks,” he said.
He indicated that the vaccines in short supply are Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG), Measles-Rubella (MR), and Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV).