Mr Carlos Kingsley Ahenkora, Member of Parliament for Tema West on Tuesday took the COVID-19 vaccine jab and called on the residents who qualified under the first phase to participate.

Mr Ahenkora together with the wife took the first shot of the vaccine to demonstrate to the constituents in particular and Ghanaians in general that, it was safe to take the vaccine.

Mrs Adwoa Amoako, Municipal Chief Executive, Tema West Municipal Assembly, also with the husband were among the first group of personalities to take the jab and said the vaccine was the surest way to get immunity against the COVID-19 virus.

Mr Isaac Abrefa Busia, Tema West Municipal Public Health Officer told the Ghana News Agency at Tema that the Vaccinators have been trained on the Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI) techniques to ensure that the vaccines were administered correctly.

Mr Abrefa Busia, who is also the Head of Disease Control and Surveillance in Tema West assured the general public of the safety and efficiency of the vaccines.

He said the directorate would continue with public education to deal with the hesitancy that have occasioned the exercise.

He however advised the public that like all medications, some people may experience some minor side-effects, including slight headache, body pains, sometimes fever, but these are usually anticipated which should not be any cause of public concern, and emphasized that the vaccines were safe and efficacious.

He said the directorate before the vaccination had undertaken series of trainings for vaccinators, volunteers, and health educators who have been deployed to all designated centres across the municipality.

At the Corpus Christi School and the C&J Diagnostic and Medical Centre at Sakumono part of the 23 vaccination centres of the four clusters in the Tema West Municipality, vaccination was ongoing, when the Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited the centres.