The Ministry of Information has dismissed media reports claiming that Government has threatened to sanction Ghanaian citizens who refuse to take Coronavirus vaccines.
In a statement dated March 10, 2021, and signed by its Public Relations Officer, Munira Karim, the Ministry the various media reports citing the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, as making the threat, were false.
Below is the statement
RE: GOVERNMENT TO SANCTION PERSONS WHO REFUSE COVID-19 VACCINE
The attention of the Ministry of Information has been drawn to a false publication by a number of reputable online portals and newspapers to the effect that Government will sanction persons who refuse to take the COVID-19 vaccine
The said reportage is false. Government has neither taken nor announced any such decision. For the avoidance of doubt, below is the quotation of the remarks by the Minister for Information at a press briefing in Peduase on Monday March 8, 2021 when asked about whether or not sanctions will be imposed on persons who refused the COVID-19 vaccines
“As at now, there are no sanctions that have been rolled out. We are encouraging strongly that people should take the vaccine and we are pleased that we are observing that the initial vaccine hesitancy appears to be toning down a bit and we congratulate you our colleagues in the media as you are helping us. We congratulate our colleagues in NCCE, ISD. As we are getting the message out, we are noticing that hesitancy is gradually coming down and a lot more people are volunteering to take the vaccine. So we have had need as at now to introduce any sanctions. Should it become necessary at some point, that we consider either what has been done I think in places like Israel or other places, where they will say if you haven’t taken the vaccine you can’t attend a public programme. If you haven’t taken the vaccine I think in Dubai, you have to do a PCR test at your own cost every week or something, Should it become necessary that we get there, we would advise accordingly but for now, we are happy at the level of encouragement and volunteering with which people are stepping up and taking it”.
The general public is advised to ignore such false publications. Ghanaians are however, encouraged to take the vaccine to reduce the risk of severe COVID-19 illness.
By Melvin Tarlue