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The Ghana Red Cross Society (GRCS) has educated and sensitized people living in hard-to-reach and vulnerable communities in the Bono Region to increase their enthusiasm and interest to embrace the on-going Poliomyelitis and COVID-19 vaccination exercises.
The GRCS Secretary-General, Mr Solomon Gayoni said the move was to facilitate mass vaccination against poliomyelitis for the achievement of universal healthcare coverage and the well-being of all Ghanaians.
He was speaking in an interview with the media on Friday, on the side-line of Polio vaccination monitoring and community education and sensitization exercise at Abi, a farming community near Jinijini, the Berekum West District capital of the Bono region.
The GRCS targeted the hard-to-reach and vulnerable communities to sensitize and motivate them to ensure that no child under five years is left out in the on-going immunization against poliomyelitis and COVID-19, Mr Gayoni said.
The monitoring exercise, education and sensitization was to increase public awareness of the need to embrace immunization as part of health care services delivery and was held through local radio station, information centres and face-to-face engagement. Mr Gayoni said the exercise was also for the people to eschew
conspiracy theories, religious and faith-based beliefs causing vaccination hesitancy and pleaded with religious leaders and faith-based organizations to educate their members to avoid hesitation and go for the Polio and the COVID-19 jabs or any routine immunization by the Ghana Health Service.
According to Mr Gayoni, the GRCS has therefore deployed 400 volunteers nationwide with 42 in the Bono Region working tirelessly with the Ghana Health Service to reach households, particularly those within the remotest rural areas to ensure all children are vaccinated.
Mr Gayoni observed only 32 per cent of Ghana’s population had fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of 1st September this year.
He said there was a huge number of people who have taken only the first jab of COVID-19 and haven’t gone for the second jab and the booster and attributed the situation to “vaccination hesitancy” caused by conspiracy theories and religious and faith-based beliefs.
This, Mr Gayoni said has necessitated community education and sensitization in the “hard-to-reach” and vulnerable communities on the on-going second round of polio vaccination which would end by 12 of October this year.
The move, he noted would facilitate the achievement of universal health and well-being of all Ghanaians.
