Editorial (The Daily Searchlight, 14th February, 2022).
The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has called on the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to withdraw its threat of job losses to health workers who have failed to undertake the mandatory COVID-19 vaccination.
Rather, the GMA stated that the Service could demand that nurses who have not vaccinated produced negative test results but not threat of job loss.
This was contained in a press statement from the GMA in Accra on Thursday and made available to the press. (See our front page news item ‘GMA, GHS CLASH…Over Unvaccinated Health Staff).
The statement was jointly signed by GMA President Dr. Frank Serebour, and General Secretary, Dr. Titus Beyuo. The GMA stated that though the mandate may be well intended, it could also potentially reduce the number of health personnel on active, which it described as ‘stressed and depleted’.
The GMA claimed that the mandate, if hastily implemented, may worsen anti-vaccine sentiments and vaccine hesitancy, especially when COVID-19 case count continued ‘to decline’.
It said based on the current data on effectiveness and safety of the COVlD-19 vaccines approved for use in Ghana, the vaccines were safe and efficacious in helping combat the COVlD-19 pandemic.
“While vaccines are generally safe and effective, persons who take the vaccines may suffer some side effects as it may be the case with already existing vaccines that have been used for decades,” the statement said.
Our Position;
The Daily Searchlight is of the belief that the position adopted by the GMA may not be fully tenable.
This is because Covid-19, the infection against which the vaccination is done, is acknowledged to be highly infectious, and in some cases, fatal.
This being so, the alternative of ‘negative test results’ cannot, in any manner, be described as adequate. This is because being ‘negative’ against covid-19, could change to ‘positive’ within moments. A staff who is negative, could be positive the very next minute. Therefore, merely depending on ‘tests’ would not be efficacious enough to prevent infected staff from infecting colleagues, and patients.
We think that the correct position, from the GMA point of view, should be that all staff health staff should be vaccinated. Those staff, who can prove by medical evidence that vaccinating poses a health risk, should voluntarily decide to forgo attending hospitals and patients until the health condition that militates against their vaccination, is addressed.
Again, those staff who decide, for reasons of conscience, to forgo vaccination, should also voluntarily agree to forgo their salaries and emoluments.
If, as the GMA itself acknowledges, vaccination is efficacious and the GMA ‘fully supports the COVlD-19 vaccination roll out’, then it should insist that its members who refuse to be vaccinated, demonstrate very good reasons why not.
We should all remember, that when it comes to Covid-19, Ghana, and the whole world for that matter, is on war footing, and acts of frivolity as a basis to refuse commonsense solutions, should not be countenanced. More so, when such refusal puts the individual, and all those they come in contact with, at risk.
Medical staff should get vaccinated. Those who refuse, should stop putting themselves, their families, and their patients at risk, and stop attending hospitals.
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