He said Canada was one of the key partners that supported Ghana during the peak of the pandemic and stressed the need to strengthen the relations to save lives.

He made the remarks when the Canadian Ambassador to Ghana, Kati Csaba called on him as part of her visit to the region to monitor some Canada-funded programmes in the health sector.

The Canadian Government in June last year earmarked eight million dollars to provide lifesaving services for girls and women in Ghana following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The goal was to improve quality health, nutrition, sanitation, and hygiene services in four selected hospitals in the Ashanti Region with a focus on gender equality.

The interventions were implemented through a strategic partnership with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

The Ambassador was therefore in the region to assess the progress of the interventions and their impact on patients.

The Regional Minister said Canada particularly supported the Regional Health Directorate to implement mitigating measures to contain the pandemic in the region which recorded the second-highest of cases after the Greater Accra Region.

He said they were also supportive of Advocacy for mass vaccination aimed at achieving herd immunity.

Mr Mensah bemoaned the high level of vaccine hesitancy, saying that the pandemic was not over and reiterated the need for people to observe the safety protocols.

Ambassador Csaba commended Ghana for the measures put in place to contain the spread of the disease since the first case was recorded on March 12, 2020.

She said being the first in the Sub-Region to receive COVID-19 vaccines demonstrated Ghana's commitment to protecting citizens and called for sustained efforts to consolidate the gains made over the period.

The pandemic, she noted, was not over and called for collective efforts to reduce the threat of COVID-19 in the country.