The Ministry of Health has stated that if vaccination rates do not increase, the country may be obliged to implement mandatory vaccination.
According to the government, the sector minister has the authority to compel mandatory vaccination under the Public Health Act.
Speaking to Citi News, the Chief Director of the Ministry, Kwabena Boadu Oku Afari, said “the Minister for Health has the power to do that through the executive instrument and that will have the legal backing and when that happens, it can be rolled out throughout the country.”
Only 2.8 million Ghanaians have been completely vaccinated, whereas 6.6 million have got at least one shot.
In Ghana, there have been 148,079 cases of the virus, with 1,313 deaths.
The number of active cases in Ghana has risen to 13,576 in the last 30 days, after the discovery of the Omicron variant.
On December 18, 2022, Ghana had 2,877 cases.
The government has declared the last month of 2021 to be the month of vaccinations, in response to mounting worries over vaccine reluctance among Ghana’s population.
This has been accompanied by vaccine regulations, such as the need for all visitors to get vaccinated upon arrival at Kotoka International Airport before being allowed to enter the country.
The government had hoped to vaccinate 20 million Ghanaians by the end of 2021, however this goal has now been pushed back to the end of the first quarter of 2022.
There have been proposals that vaccinations be made mandatory, which has sparked criticism from certain Ghanaians, including a Christian organization called Advocates for Christ Ghana.
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SOURCE: CITINEWS
