ACCRA, Ghana has covered at least 400,000 children in phase one of the pilot Malaria Vaccine Implementation Program (MVIP), said an official.
Kwame Amponsa-Achiano, manager for the Expanded Program on Immunization at the Ghana Health Service (GHS), disclosed this at a Thursday press briefing on the MVIP, which began to be implemented in 42 local government districts in May 2019.
“We have administered at least 1.5 million vaccines to these infants, with some receiving two shots and others three, which covered at least 80 percent of the targeted infant population in those districts,” the official said.
He told Xinhua that the GHS would commence phase two of the MVIP, which would cover 41 more districts with the goal of vaccinating about 150,000 to 170,000 children annually.
“The MVIP has helped to reduce the malaria infection rate among children in the implementing districts. But this is not full-proof against malaria. We should therefore continue using all the existing preventive measures to complement the effect of the vaccine,” said Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, director-general of the GHS.
Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK
