“I’ve heard people say it’s common sense (to get vaccinated), but what about all the other countries that have taken it and still put people in lockdown,” says local Ghanaian.
QUICK FACTS:
- The perception that COVID-19 doesn’t pose a significant threat is common in Ghana’s capital and elsewhere in Africa, where the population has suffered a fraction of the casualties suffered in places like Europe and America, Reuters reports.
- “I mean, Ghana has been spared up until now doing just what we’re doing,” said a 28-year-old construction worker in Accra, named Nana Kwaku Addo. “I’ve heard people say it’s common sense (to get vaccinated), but what about all the other countries that have taken it and still put people in lockdown.”
- In Ghana, only 31.5% of the population is vaccinated, 19.7% fully, and the country had only 15 new COVID infections on Tuesday.
- Compare those figures to Australia—which has about 5 million fewer citizens—whose population is 86.8% vaccinated (84% fully) and yet still suffered 56,461 new coronavirus infections on the same day.
- In other words, Australia is more than four times fully vaccinated than Ghana but has over 3,764 times more COVID cases.
GHANAIANS NOT WORRIED ABOUT COVID:
- For many Ghanaians, COVID-19 is not a concern.
- “Let me ask you one question,” said Mawule, an Accra businessman. “Is COVID the biggest problem in Ghana right now? You think it’s a bigger problem than inflation, the way people suffer for fuel?”
- Vaccination sites in Africa are empty, Reuters notes, millions of unused vials are piling up, and one of Africa’s first vaccine producers is still waiting for an order.
BACKGROUND:
- The United States was averaging 97,024 new coronavirus infections per day as of Monday, up from about 73,000 a week before, according to Google statistics, which use data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
- 78.3% of Americans are vaccinated (67% fully), according to the same data.
- COVID vaccine rates are high in America, as are the nation’s infection rates, signifying an inverse of what’s happening in Ghana.
