The service has also predicted a surge in active cases due to the change in weather as recorded in some countries.

The Director-General, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, made the disclosure at a press conference as he assures of their readiness to contain it.

“There is also a potential for a new variant just like we had during the last Christmas -the Omicron variant.

“So, we also have to look at that as a risk factor, and so we need to be alert and make sure that we sustain the gains made so far, so we don’t go back to where we were many months ago,” he announced.

In view of this, he has urged the citizenry to take advantage of the ongoing mass vaccination exercise which he said a little over one million people have participated so far out of the expected 1.4 million.

Dr Kuma-Aboagye urged opinion leaders to entreat their people to take the vaccines.

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GHS from Wednesday, December 14, re-launched the vaccination for citizens who are yet to be vaccinated against Covid-19 ahead of the Christmas festivities.

The latest vaccination drive themed Protect Yourself, Protect Your Family, Get Vaccinated Against Covid-19, will end today, December 19, 2022.

Under the theme, Protect Yourself, Protect Your Family, Get Vaccinated Against covid-19, this edition is expected to vaccinate over 1.4 million people between 14th and 18th December 2023.

The GHS has currently administered a total of 21,179,341 vaccine doses as of November 30.

The Programme Manager for the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) at the GHS, Dr Kwame Amponsah-Achiano, told Adom News’ Reporter Shine Acquah, the vaccination campaign was on hold due to the rise of other diseases like yellow fever, polio and Marburg.

He said it has become necessary to ignite, especially during the period when there would be an influx of visitors into the country.

Dr Amponsah-Achiano has, therefore, urged the public to take advantage of the exercise, insisting that this is the best time to take the jab.

He stressed, existing Covid-19 prevention measures at the airport for visitors have been strengthened to reduce the number of cases which may enter the country.

“Travellers or tourists who have been fully vaccinated will no longer be vaccinated upon arrival. Those who have been vaccinated partially will have to conduct a PCR test 48/hours before arrival into the country where the person will also be subject to a test at the airport and will also be asked to fill out a Health Declaration Form which shall be provided to them at the airport,” he detailed.

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The GHS also debunked news about administering expired vaccines, stating a stability study was carried by World Health Organization and dates have been extended upon thorough lab checks, hence all drugs are safe for the public.

Meanwhile, UNICEF has admonished the public to accept Covid-19 vaccination as part of the routine vaccinations done for polio, yellow fever and the like.

DJ Ferguson, 31, is in dire need of a new heart, but Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston took him off their list, said his father, David.

He said the Covid vaccine goes against his son’s “basic principles, he doesn’t believe in it”.

The hospital said it was following policy.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital told the BBC in a statement: “Given the shortage of available organs, we do everything we can to ensure that a patient who receives a transplanted organ has the greatest chance of survival.”

A spokesman said the hospital requires “the Covid-19 vaccine, and lifestyle behaviours for transplant candidates to create both the best chance for a successful operation and to optimise the patient’s survival after transplantation, given that their immune system is drastically suppressed”.

The hospital’s carefully worded statement may suggest other factors lie beyond the patient’s unvaccinated status for his ineligibility, but it refused to discuss specifics, citing patient privacy.

The hospital added that most of the 100,000 people on waitlists for organ transplants will not receive an organ within five years because of the shortage of available organs.

A father-of-two with a third child on the way, Mr Ferguson remains at the hospital, said his loved ones.

His family has suggested he is too weak to be transferred to a different hospital and is “running out of time”.

“My boy is fighting pretty damn courageously and he has integrity and principles he really believes in and that makes me respect him all the more,” said David Ferguson.

“It’s his body. It’s his choice.”

It is not the first time an unvaccinated American has faced healthcare obstacles in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, a Minnesota woman sued her local hospital after doctors tried to take her unvaccinated husband off the ventilator he had been on for two months.

Just over 63% of the US population is double-jabbed and about 40% of Americans have received a third booster dose.

The three others are Bernard Ackah Blah, Mawuko K. Kwame and Berys Ama Sarpong, all citizens of Ghana.

The action is directed at the Attorney General who is the first Respondent, the Ghana Health Service, the second respondent with the Ghana Airports Company Limited as the third Respondent, all state institutions.

In a motion filed at the Human Rights Division of the Accra High Court, the plaintiffs said they are seeking enforcement of their fundamental Human Rights under Order 67 of CI 47.

Per the applicants’ affidavit in support of the motion, they noted that “On Wednesday, December 15, 2021, the President of the Republic of Ghana, in an address to the nation announced travel restrictions similar to the directives issued by the 2nd and 3rd Respondents on compulsory COVID-19 vaccination constituting restrictions on the freedom of entry and exit of all unvaccinated persons who are 18 years and above.”

They argue that the said public announcement was not predicated on or made pursuant to any law currently in force in the Republic of Ghana.

To this end, they believe that the public announcement did not comply with the requirements of the 1992 Constitution or Section 2(1) of the Imposition of Restrictions Act, 2020 (ACT 1012).

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Read the full writ of summons below:

MTN Group, in a statement issued on December 6, 2021, said staff who are not exempted from vaccinations either through risk assessment or agreed exclusions but still refused vaccination will risk losing their jobs from next year.

The statement said the new vaccine policy is a measure to meet legal obligations with regard to providing a safe workplace and shall be subject to risk assessment and local laws where its companies and subsidiaries operate.

“The science is clear. Vaccination against COVID-19 reduces rates of serious infections, hospitalisation, and death. As an employer, we have a responsibility to ensure that our workplaces are guided by the highest standards of health and safety, and that has informed our decision to make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for our staff,” MTN Group President and Chief Executive Officer, Ralph Mupita, said.

“Our new COVID-19 policy recognises that some of our markets don’t have adequate access to vaccines. It also recognises some low-risk roles that will be accommodated with full-time work-from-home or alternate arrangements, but this will be a small population within our workforce,” he added.

Exceptions

The statement also noted that exceptions would be made for employees in countries that don’t have access to vaccines as well as those who “apply to be exempted from the policy and/or refuse vaccination on certain clearly defined grounds.”

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“MTN Group’s new vaccine policy is a measure to meet MTN’s legal obligations in regard to providing a safe workplace and shall be subject to risk assessment and local laws that apply to the MTN Group and our operating companies and subsidiaries,” the statement said.

“It also recognises the right of employees to apply to be exempted from the policy and/or refuse vaccination on certain clearly defined grounds. For those staff who are not exempt from vaccinations either through risk assessment or agreed exclusions but still refuse vaccination, MTN will not be obliged to continue the employment contract,” Graphic.com.gh report further quotes MTN.

MTN’s new mandatory vaccination policy follows the Group’s US$25 million donations to the African Union’s COVID-19 vaccination programme.