Government should consider the procurement of Pfizer vaccines to combat the new COVID-19 strains-Professor Gordon Awandare
The Ghana Health Service has reacted to reports that the highly contagious strain of COVID-19 Delta variant has been detected in the country, explaining that the cases recorded are not community infections.
It said the cases were only reported at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), and have not been transmitted publicly because all such positive cases were put under mandatory isolation.
Director-General of the GHS, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, who signed a statement to clarify widespread media reports on the outbreak also explained that Ghana has not experienced a third wave of the virus because of the “robust surveillance system in place at the ports of entry and strict isolation of all cases detected.”
“As of now, the country has detected six Delta variants of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19 virus) from all samples taken between April and June 2021 at the ports of entry. No Delta variant has been detected from samples taken from cases in the community”, the statement clarified.
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Head of the West Africa Centre for Cell Biology and Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) at the University of Ghana, Professor Gordon Awandare confirmed the detection of the Delta strain.
He has thus urged the government to consider the procurement of Pfizer vaccines to combat the new COVID-19 strains.
Experts say although the AstraZeneca and Sputnik-V vaccines are effective, they are not suitable to fight the new strain.
Professor Gordon Awandare said procuring the Pfizer vaccines puts the country in a better position to fight the new variant.
Source: Citi
