The GMA has been raising red flags in government response to the COVID-19 fight
The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has welcomed government’s decision to manufacture Covid-19 vaccines locally.
According to them, this will reduce Ghana’s dependency on other countries for vaccines to vaccinate citizens.
President Nana Akufo-Addo in his 26th update on measures implemented to combat the Covid-19 pandemic on Sunday, July 25 announced that government has committed US$25million for the establishment of a National Vaccine Institute to spearhead the manufacture of vaccines to meet national and regional needs.
He said, the establishment of the institute is based on a recommendation by a committee chaired by Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, which was tasked to investigate Ghana’s potential as a vaccine manufacturing hub.
Speaking in an interview on Atinka FM’s AM Drive with host Kaakiyre Ofori Ayim, President of the Ghana Medical Association, Dr. Frank Ankobea indicated that, the move by the government was a step in the right direction.
He charged government to find more vaccines to vaccinate Ghanaians as the Delta Variant is deadly and spreads faster than the others.
Ghana became the first country in February to receive vaccines through the UN-backed COVAX scheme, which aimed to get COVID-19 vaccines to the world’s most vulnerable people, in a global effort to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
However, Dr. Frank Ankobea urged Ghanaians to continue adhering to the laid down safety protocols to prevent the fast spread.
Recently the Executive Chairman of the Tobinco Group of Companies, Elder Nana Amo Tobbin I, said it was possible for local companies to manufacture Covid-19 vaccine here in Ghana.
According to him, the local companies will be able to manufacture the vaccines if government supports them.
“We can produce the COVID-19 vaccine in Ghana if the government, our President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo support the local industry. It is possible! We have the people, we have the logistics, we have the factory, we have all the things in place to do that,” he said.
The Tobinco boss noted that even when the world was hit with the Covid-19 pandemic, Ghanaian companies were able to produce hand sanitizers and other PPEs to meet the country’s needs, adding that the local companies can produce the vaccine with support from the government.