If you have to visit any Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for an official or personal business, be sure to have a vaccination card as some of them have begun turning away persons who have no proof of full Covid-19 vaccination.
Since yesterday, Tuesday, January 4, 2022, some MDAs have displayed notices of "No Vaccination, No Entry" and while some have begun implementation, others are yet to carry out what the notices say.
At the Ministry of Health (MoH), for instance, persons without valid Covid-19 vaccination cards were denied entry onto its premises in line with the implementation of the mandatory vaccination policy.
The Minister of Health, Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, on December 1, 2021, in an update on the vaccination, entreated all government agencies and public institutions to enforce a "No Vaccination, No entry" policy from January 2022.
In the directive, staff of public institutions, as well as visitors, are required to show proof of vaccination before they are allowed access to the premises and offices.
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The memorandum directed that “Effective Tuesday, January 4, 2022, everybody, entering the Ministry of Health must be vaccinated before they are admitted into the MoH office building, valid vaccination cards would be required for entry.”
It said the directive was part of measures to control the spread of Covid-19 and create a conducive environment for all.
Consequently, scores of visitors, including journalists without vaccination cards were turned away at the Ministry's main entrance on Tuesday.
A security officer at the gate said they were instructed to strictly go by the directive. "We are checking everyone, including our own staff. We have turned some people away and that is how it is going to be...," the Officer told the press.
Head of Public Relations at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Bagbara Tanko, said they were putting measures in place for a full implementation of the policy and also waiting for an official announcement by the Minister of Health on the implementation.
He said the Ministry was making arrangements to have a vaccination centre in its premises for clients who were yet to vaccinate.
Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, Director of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service, said although the directive was expected to take effect after December, "The month of Vaccination, the Minister will publicly announce when to start so we are waiting for the announcement.
“The plan is that after the vaccination month, we would do an assessment of vaccinations done in December and advise the Minister on what next,” he said.
Data available from the Extended Programme on Immunisation indicate that a total of 2,199,021 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the month of vaccination from December 1 to 23.
These comprise 981,630 doses of AstraZeneca, 310,129 doses of Moderna, 727,277 doses of Pfizer and 179,985 doses of Johnson and Johnson.
As of December 31, 2022, a total of 13,025 COVID-19 active cases had been recorded with 1,309 deaths. The number of new cases as indicated by the GHS COVID-19 update page stood at 1,084.