Some members of the Rasta community in Ghana have supported the doctors who have petitioned President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to halt the vaccine rollout.
In the view of the Rastafarians, the vaccines are having dire effect on people hence, the need to halt the vaccination.
A member of the community, Empress Tassa claimed in an interview with TV3’s Nancy Vukania on Wednesday January 12 that “What is contained in the vaccine is crippling people , killing people. If Akufo-Addo loves his people and the country he should never uphold this thing that these people bring. It is very wrong , I will not take it.
“There are other ways and means we can come into the country without having the vaccine. It is not right and President Akufo-Addo needs to think what he is doing because these people are his people. They are living here and he has to remove that of the board. Wherever he got the vaccines he should take it back to them.”
Another member of the community, Ras Nkrabea also said “We as a people, we have done our own research under vaccination. We have scientists, we have doctors and we have taken it upon us to actually do our own due diligence on this issue especially at a time when a lot of people all over the world are actually rebelling and demonstrating against this same mandatory vaccination .
“So to me there are many worries that the government of Ghana to pay attention to. To just ignore the voice of the people from Ghana and the voice of the people in the world is not the best way to go.”
Meanwhile, the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has described the contents of the petition against the vaccine rollout as misleading and and also not based on available local and international scientific data.
The GMA in a statement issued on Wednesday January 12 said among other things that “The GMA finds the contents of the petition misleading, unfortunate and not based on available local and international scientific data.”
Some 11 doctors have written to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to issue a directive for the nationwide vaccine rollout in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic to be paused.
The doctors say the risks associated with these vaccines, per the data studied so far, outweigh the potential benefits, if any.
In their petition dated Monday, January 10, 2022, the doctors, who call themselves as Concerned Ghanaian Doctors, cited how the UK and Israel are still battling with the virus despite a high vaccination rate of their respective populations.
“These countries have very high vaccination rates, currently deploying booster programmes, yet they are struggling to get the virus under control especially with these new variants,” the doctors observed in the jointly-signed petition.
“Assuming as a country we are to vaccinate more than 50% of our population, are we going to continue with perpetual boosters every 3 to 6 months in an attempt to maintain vaccine induced immunity for this disease?
“Where then is the end point when these vaccines do not stop infection or the spread of Covid-19? Is this financially feasible for us as a nation?”
They contended that the case fatality rate is not as high as anticipated especially given the fact that not many citizens are testing.
For them, the vaccines becoming a mandate is only a ploy by some pharmaceutical companies to rake in profits.
“If there is safe, effective, affordable, freely available early treatment for Covid-19, vaccines are no longer a priority.
“It doesn’t take a genius to recognise the financial benefit of pharmaceutical companies in demonising potential early, effective treatments.
“If these medications do work, that’s wonderful in the human race’s fight against Covid-19. However, they are practicably placebos if they don’t work. Why the suppression and demonising of these early treatments then, if the concern is health.
“Considering all these, wouldn’t it be prudent to pause and ask ourselves whether these novel vaccines are necessary in the first place,” they quizzed.
For them, Ghana, and for that matter Africa, must lead the way in the fight against Covid-19.
“All the relevant metrics show that Ghana and Africa at large have done better than most of the world with respect to the pandemic even before the advent of these vaccines.
“It is possible the rest of the world are rather to learn from us.”
The doctors are Dr Timothy Oblijah Armah, Dr Bismark Opoku-Asare, Dr Faisal Adjei, Dr William Ghunney and Dr Bernard Boateng Adjei.
The others are Dr Doreen Oye Agyei, Dr Michael Agyemang-Wiredu, Dr Richard Fayah and Dr Sedem Cyril Klinogoh.
The rest are Dr Phil Dowuona and Dr Emmanuel Awuttey.
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana