ECOWAS urges community to get vaccinated, shun conspiracy theories

Dr Sidie Tunis, President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) encouraged the citizens of the community to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and to avoid all forms of conspiracy theories because all vaccines are very safe.

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The ECOWAS president made the appeal in Winneba, Ghana at the opening of the Second Extraordinary Session of the legislature to consider and adopt its draft budget for 2022.

He noted that this was as a result of the rising cases of infections across the sub-region.

“As it stands, the third wave of the pandemic seems to be stabilising across our states, but cases are still high.

“The West African Health Organisation (WAHO) reported a total of 649,077 cases across the region as of October 14, 2021. On the vaccine front, more doses are getting into arms daily.

“And we seize this moment to appreciate our partners under the COVAX Initiative and friendly governments that have donated doses to African countries.

“However, the percentage of African population fully vaccinated, which is a little over 2.47 per cent, according to the Africa Centre for Disease Control, is appallingly low.”

“Much as the unavailability of the vaccine is an issue to consider, we also frown on the conspiracy theories that have created fear about the vaccines among our population.
“I, therefore, wish to use this podium, as I have always done, to send a clear message to our citizens that the vaccines are safe and should be taken once they are available,’’ he said.

He said the parliament had been examining the pandemic closely and was disturbed by the region’s relapse into recession due to the virus.

“This will ultimately erase the progress we have made over the past two decades,” Tunis added.

MTO/Guardian