Ghanaian-American shares COVID-19 vaccination experience
“Free your minds of any negatives and voluntarily accept without fear the COVID-19 vaccine shots because they are as safe as any other vaccine approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO)”, a Ghanaian-born American citizen, Mrs Tina Jacobs, has advised Ghanaians.
She said people who took the jabs were not likely to react to it but stated that even when some of them reacted the reaction would go away in no time, “and you will be fine and strong as if nothing happened to you”.
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Mrs Jacobs gave the advice when she shared her personal experiences with the Daily Graphic after she took two doses of the vaccine in the United States of America about a month ago.
“There is no need to panic, my brothers and sisters because the vaccines are safe and there is no ill-motive behind their development. It is simply to save the world”, Mrs Jacobs, who is a data analyst with journalism background, said.
Personal experience
Giving details of her experience, Mrs Jacobs stated: “After taking my first shot, I had headache but after three days, I felt as strong as a fiddle.”
She said although she felt worried initially, she recalled an advice given her and other American citizens about the possible side effects which would go away after a few days.
She said although she went through that experience her husband did not encounter any such effects even though he also had two shots per the requirements.
“This gave us comfort and we believed in the fact that there was no need to entertain fears when one takes the vaccine.
“Some people have reacted in the same negative way as I did but while some had relief within a day, others had it after two days and some after three days, so based on your system, you are likely to react differently and that is why you need not panic,” she stated.
Demystify the negatives
Mrs Jacobs described the negative reactions to the vaccine as unfortunate and unnecessary because it was a lifesaver and not a killer.
She asked Ghanaians to reflect on the negative impact of the disease on the economy, and noted that the only way to bounce back was to take the vaccine voluntarily without fear or panic to reduce the infection rate and return to normal life.
Mrs Jacobs commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the government for moving fast for the country to be the first developing country to receive the COVAX doses.
“This makes me recall the President’s famous comment that went viral globally that he cannot bring lives lost to COVID-19 back but knows how to fix a broken economy,” she said.
She said for the President to achieve the vision, he required the cooperation of all and sundry.
On that score, she urged all to avail themselves when the time for the vaccination came.
Education
She urged the people not to leave the education on the vaccine to the government alone but use word of mouth to preach about the vaccine because it was good to preserve humanity and not to destroy it.
Mrs Jacobs said people who did not know anything about vaccines or science were the ones speaking against the vaccines.
“Join your government to send the messages out. Help to demystify the misconceptions and use word of mouth to help the education process because it is for the good of all,” she said.
