Disregard negative theories about COVID-19 vaccine — NCCE

The Builsa North Municipal Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) in the Upper East Region, Mr Jeffery Adda, has urged members of the public to disregard negative conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 vaccine.

“It is obvious that the negative information about the vaccine cannot be sustained,” he said, and urged the aged and people with underlying conditions to get vaccinated when the vaccine was rolled out in the municipality.

Mr Adda said that when he addressed a community durbar organised by the NCCE in collaboration with the Information Services Department (ISD) to sensitise beneficiaries of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme in the municipality to the COVID-19 vaccine.

Sensitisation

He said the commission was mandated to educate members of the public on the COVID-19 vaccine, and to demystify the misconceptions and negative theories about the vaccine among some members of the public.

He explained that the collaboration between the NCCE and the ISD was to assist the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) to properly educate, inform and guide members of the public on the vaccine.

For her part, Madam Jennifer Adocta, the Municipal Director of the ISD, said it was necessary to sensitise the public to the need to get vaccinated, and clear any myths about the vaccine in the media, especially on the various social media platforms.

Social media

She advised the public to avoid overdependence on social media for information about the COVID-19 vaccines as some of the platforms were saturated with false information.

Some participants in the programme, who shared their views about the vaccine, said they would not hesitate to take the vaccine if it was eventually rolled out in the municipality.

“I am confident that the government procured the right and potent vaccine to help us. The government will not compromise on the safety of its citizens and so my family and I are very ready to receive the vaccine for protection,” said one of the participants, Mr Ayomah Abonaab.

Another participant, Madam Felicia Yaw, said she was initially not comfortable about the vaccine due to the different perspectives being shared about it, especially in the media.

“But the way the NCCE and ISD officials have explained, I am now comfortable and will go for the vaccine if the opportunity comes,” she stated.

Source: GNA