Policy think tank African Centre for Health Policy, Research and Analysis has kicked against the decision by the Ministry of Health to embark on compulsory vaccination of Ghanaians who arrive at the Kotoka International Airport, as part of measures to help contain the spread of the deadly Coronavirus pandemic in the country.

Dr Thomas Anaba, Executive Director of the Centre, told Accra 100.5FM’s mid-day news on Thursday, 16 December 2021 that compulsory vaccination is not the way to go.

He said the government cannot force the citizenry to take the vaccine against their will since it would infringe people’s human rights.

The Public Health Act, he noted, does not make provisions for compulsory vaccination. 

Dr Anaba warned that any move to compulsorily vaccinate the citizenry will land doctors in trouble since a lot of them would end up before the Medical and Dental Council for punitive sanctions.  

He wondered why Ghana would force the vaccines on her citizens when even the countries that manufacture them are not compelling their citizens to go for the jab.

Dr Anaba also said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo told an untruth on Wednesday, 15 December 2021 when he said in his 27th COVID address that the vaccines were totally safe.

He said even the WHO has admitted publicly that the vaccines had side effects and still being studied, thus, urged the government to be seen persuading people to take the vaccines rather than attempting to force it on them.

Dr Anaba believes the citizenry should be educated about the side effects and benefits of the vaccines so that people can make their own decision.

“You can’t just lie about something that is obvious”, he said.

He mentioned instances where people got paralysed after the jab while others experienced other forms of malaise as a result of the vaccination.