Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress, Lawyer Sammy Gyamfi, has vowed to go every length to stop efforts by the Ghana Health Service to compel travelers to vaccinate before they are allowed entry into the country.
According to him, Vaccination cannot be forced.
He was responding to the wide-ranging stricter COVID-19 measures by the Ghana Health Service and Ghana Airport Company.
The measures are aimed at curtailing the spread of the newly discovered COVID-19 variant, the Omicron variant.
In its latest report, the Ghana Health Services has indicated that 41 Omicron cases have been reported in Ghana.
Among others, the Ghana Health Services is demanding that unvaccinated Ghanaians or persons arriving at the Airport will be vaccinated upon arrival.
They have also directed that Airlines, which bring unvaccinated persons to the Airport shall be surcharged $3, 500, per passenger. Additionally, Airlines which transport passengers with positive PCR test results, will also be fined $ 3, 500 for each passenger. These measures are expected to take effect on Tuesday, December 14.
Taking to his Twitter page to express his misgivings about the directive, Mr. Gyamfi described the imposition of compulsory COVID vaccination requirement on all Ghanaians traveling into and out of Ghana by the Ghana Health Service as condemnable and an affront to the 1992 Constitution.
He further vowed to use all legal means to get the decision reversed, asserting that : ‘’Vaccination must be by choice and not by force.’’