Posts in category: Other News

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta is expected to present the 2022 Budget Statement to Parliament, today [Wednesday, November 17, 2021] on behalf of the President.

The Budget, according to the Ministry, will focus on expanding the economy’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The budget would dwell on “creating a climate-friendly entrepreneurial state to address unemployment and import substitution,” it said in a statement, on Monday.

Ahead of the presentation, some financial and economic analysts as well as professional and trade organisations have expressed varied expectations on the Budget.

Members of the public have also expressed their concerns and interests, especially on tax cuts and job creation interventions.

Whereas some analysts have urged the Government not to introduce new taxes, others have also called for the widening of the tax net to enable the government to meet its revenue targets.

The Ghana Union of Traders’ Associations (GUTA) has, for instance, appealed to the government to implement policies that would reduce the cost of doing business in the country.

The Institute for Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) of the University of Ghana has also urged the Government to introduce policies that would ensure efficiency in the country’s tax administration.

The statement from the Ministry, however, mentioned the digitalisation of the economy, skills development and entrepreneurship as part of the key issues in the presentation.

The presentation of the National Budget Statement to Parliament is in accordance with Article 179 of the 1992 Constitution and Section 21 (3) of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016, (Act 921).

Source: GNA.

A total of 571,894 candidates from 18,028 schools will sit this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) across the country, starting today.

The five-day examination will be written in 2,158 centres under the supervision of 2,158 supervisors and 1,853 assistant supervisors.

Statistics

Two hundred and eighty-seven thousand, six hundred and five of them are males while the remaining 284,289 are females, with the Ashanti Region presenting the largest number of candidates of 111,432, while the Greater Accra Region follows with 105,539 candidates.

The Head of Public Affairs of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Mrs Agnes Teye-Cudjoe, who provided the figures, said the Central Region followed with 63,727 candidates, while a combined force of Western and Western North regions presented 58,316 candidates.

The Eastern Region, according to her, presented 55,930 candidates, while 53,265 candidates were from the Bono, Ahafo and Bono East together. The Northern, North East and Savannah together had 44,838 candidates, while the Volta and Oti together presented 42,093 candidates.

According to her, the Upper East and Upper West Region accounted for 22,116 and 14,638 candidates, respectively.

More girls

She said significantly, the Greater Accra, Upper East and Upper West regions presented more female candidates than males.

The Greater Accra Region presented 50,815 males and 54,824 females, while the Upper East Region presented 10,586 males and 11,530 females and the Upper West had 7,290 males and 7,348 females.

Malpractice

While wishing the candidates all the best in the examination, Mrs Teye-Cudjoe reminded them to stay away from any examination malpractice, since that could jeopardise their future.

She said the WAEC, together with all its partners, had put in place security measures and candidates who fell foul would be dealt with.

Mrs Teye-Cudjoe also reminded invigilators and supervisors as well as the security officials deployed at all the examination centres to play their respective roles professionally and not allow themselves to be compromised.

Best wishes

In a related development, the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, on behalf of his ministry, has extended his best wishes to all the candidates who are writing the exams beginning today, Monday, November 15 to Friday, November 19, 2021.

He said: “Together with your parents and teachers, our dear nation has made great contributions over the past nine (9) years of your education and now is the time for you to finish well and excel”.

Peaceful examination

The statement said the minister was encouraging all candidates, invigilators, supervisors, school authorities and teachers to observe all the COVID-19 safety protocols and avoid all forms of examination malpractice.

“Let me assure you that my ministry is working hand in hand with the Ghana Education Service, West African Examinations Council and the Security Services to ensure a smooth and peaceful examination at all the 2,158 designated centres across the country,” it said.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

The Chairperson of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Ms Josephine Nkrumah, has said the commission is streamlining its programmes to fuse in Ghanaian values to ensure that the youth have a sense of belonging.

She said the NCCE’s programmes, which included constitutional week, citizenship week, democracy lecture, social auditing programmes, civic education clubs and dialogue series, would be anchored on the values inculcated into the younger ones.

She stated this at an NCCE/National Security forum on national cohesion and inclusive participation governance for members of the Ashaiman Municipal Inter Party Dialogue Committee (IPDC).

The day’s workshop was on the theme: “Empowering Ghanaians to stand for national cohesion and inclusive participation.”

Indiscipline

Answering a question on the increasing indiscipline among students, some of whom vandalised school properties and threatened people in leadership, she said “what is happening among the youth is frightening. They have lost their sense of direction in everything.”

According to her, the youth had become like an untrained army waiting to be unleashed on Ghanaians.

She, therefore called on parents, caregivers, teachers and other stakeholders to instil the right Ghanaian values into the youth.

Ms Nkrumah said the failure on the part of stakeholders to guide the youth would mean they would grow thinking they could use violence and dubious ways to get whatever they decided to have without considering the consequences.

“We need to make time for our youth. Responsible adults are carefully nurtured from childhood. They don’t happen by chance. Don’t think paying school fees and providing three-square meals is enough,” she said.

“We must go back to the basis to re-engineer our senses. Let’s recognise that our security is tied to the values the children have,” she added.

Peace

Speaking on the Public Order Act and Community Surveillance, the Ashaiman District Police Commander, Superintendent Osman Alhassan, said public event organisers must inform the police of their intentions in accordance with the law.

He explained that it was an offence not to inform the police.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

At a time when mankind is clutching desperately at a vaccine to survive COVID-19, a vaccine has emerged to save the most vulnerable from another ruthless killer, malaria.

The RTS,S vaccine (Mosquirix) by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals and Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, which has been in development for about 35 years, is finally approved for children, to help prevent malaria and limit disease severity.

Interestingly, the invention of the RTS,S malaria vaccine had something to do with Hepatitis, another ruthless killer disease.

The beneficiaries of the vaccine have Joe Cohen and his co-inventor to thank, for fusing the hepatitis surface antigen and the protein that coats the surface of the malaria parasite – Circum-sporozoite Protein (CSP).

In 1987, GSK asked Dr Cohen to take over the leadership of the malaria vaccine project.

“Our work on RTS,S built upon the pioneering research by Dr Ruth Nussenzweig and Dr Victor Nussenzweig, at New York University. They identified the CSP as a likely protein candidate for a malaria vaccine,” he said.

Dr Cohen, co-inventor and patent holder of the RTS,S/AS02A malaria vaccine, proposed this to the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) team.

“The process started at GSK in my laboratory between 1987 and 1989,” he recalled.

Dr Cohen explained that they combined the RTS,S protein with the novel Adjuvant Systems (ASs) developed by his colleagues at GSK.

“This helped optimise the immunogenicity of the antigen. Two of these RTS,S/AS combinations proved to be efficacious in clinical trials conducted on adult volunteers in the USA and Africa and young children and infants in various studies conducted throughout sub-Saharan Africa.”

The RTS,S journeyed far from Europe to Africa and had for 12 years been in clinical development on the continent of Africa.

“For more than 10 years we partnered leading African scientists, technicians, nurses and field workers. They became our key partners in conducting multiple clinical trials in Africa,” he explained.

Alliance

The Malaria Clinical Trials Alliance (MCTA) was established in 2006 by the INDEPTH Network, deploying researchers in seven countries and eleven centres in Africa, including the Kintampo Health Research Centre and the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research/ Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) School of Medical Sciences.

Personnel and facilities at the research sites in Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania were upgraded for the trials.

The project funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, brought together the MCTA, Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) and the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) for the stage III clinical trials.

The MCTA gave birth to the African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN) to provide reports on the clinical trials of the vaccine, as well as feedback from the communities.

Having visited all the eleven RTS,S vaccine trial sites in seven African countries and provided extensive coverage on the study, AMMREN joins the scientific world to celebrate the approval of the malaria vaccine candidate.

Roll out

In December the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisations (GAVI) will decide how much to invest in RTS,S, having already committed nearly $70 million to the WHO pilot programme of RTS,S that has administered 2.3 million doses so far.

GSK has announced its commitment to supplying 15 million doses of RTS,S each year, depending on funding, and selling the vaccines at no more than five per cent higher than the cost of production.

The vaccine is administered in a four-dose regimen: three shots in three months, beginning at five months of age, and a fourth booster shot at roughly 18 months old.

However, the fourth booster’s necessity is still being evaluated.

Call

Dr Cohen is looking forward to the early implementation of the malaria vaccine to save lives.

“I am anxiously awaiting the deployment on the ground. I sincerely hope that all stakeholders will collaborate closely to ensure that this vaccine reaches those who need it most, as quickly as possible.”

Considering the infamous procurement issues of COVID-19 vaccines, Dr Cohen’s call for close collaboration among stakeholders is timely.

The mystery around the spending of public funds must stop. It is crucial to have transparency in the acquisition, distribution and availability of vaccines to help restore public faith in the deployment of the vaccine.

The public must demand the right to information about the name of the contractor, manufacturer, total number of vaccines contracted, the contract value, as well as the delivery schedule.

Credit: Carlton Cofie.

More than 350,000 customers of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) are expected to directly benefit from improved electricity supply following the commissioning of the Pokuase Bulk Supply Point (BSP) in the Greater Accra Region.

The Pokuase BSP, considered the largest in the country, will improve the quality and reliability of power supply in the Pokuase, Kwabenya, Legon, Nsawam and the outlying communities.

The project will also lead to a significant reduction in technical losses along the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) transmission system and ECG’s power distribution networks, thereby improving the financial viability of the utilities.

Funding

The $64.7 million project, described as the largest of its kind and the most technologically advanced in the country, was funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

It was executed in a record period of 18 months in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The components of the project are the construction of the 33 kilovolts sub-transmission station lines to evacuate power from the Pokuase BSP onto the electric distribution network and the erection of new sets of Quadruple Circuit Steel lattice towers to move power from Pokuase BPS to ECG’s Primary Sub-station in Ofankor, Kwabenya and Nsawam.

Stable power

At the commissioning ceremony at Pokuase yesterday, President Akufo-Addo said the project offered an assurance of stable power supply and also reminded Ghanaians of how far they had come from the days of widespread power outages and the phenomenon of “dumsor”.

He said those days came with so much discomfort, inconvenience and brought businesses to their knees, describing that era as “truly dark days, literally speaking, and we must continue to keep them behind us”.

The President explained that as a country that aspired to industrialise to guarantee a decent quality of life for its people, it must ensure access to stable, efficient and affordable power supply.

“Electricity is no longer a luxury. But rather in this age a basic necessity. We must commit ourselves to working hard and ensure that we achieve universal coverage in this country as soon as possible to spur economic growth”, President Akufo-Addo added.

Similar projects

President Akufo-Addo noted that beyond the Pokuase BSP, the government was carrying out other projects to meet the increasing power needs due to population spikes and the nation’s industrial agenda through initiatives such as the One-district, One-factory policy.

He announced that work was ongoing on the Kasoa BSP, which would be the second largest bulk supply point and once completed, it would address voltage and frequent power outage challenges caused by increasing domestic and industrial demand at Kasoa, Senya Breku, Bawjiase and Nyanyano.

He indicated that the $50-million project, also funded by the MCC under the Ghana Power Compact programme to be completed in the coming months, would benefit more than 240,580 ECG customers and contribute to substantial reduction in transmission losses in GRIDCo’s transmission system.

Middle Belt

President Akufo-Addo added that the national transmission backbone, under construction from the coast to Bolgatanga, had a gap between Kumasi and Kintampo which had since been completed a few weeks ago.

“Completion of this portion of the Kumasi/Bolgatanga transmission line project will ease the load on Kumasi sub-stations, and become the instrument of power transmission within the Ashanti, Ahafo, Bono and Bono East Regions, and in parts of northern Ghana.

“In addition to this is the ongoing Tema to Accra transmission line upgrade project to accommodate an increase from 161KV capacity to 330KV capacity,” he added.

The President commended the professionalism and diligence of the various stakeholders in the construction of the Pokuase BSP project.

MCC

The US Ambassador to Ghana, Ms Stephen S. Sullivan, said the bulk supply station would drive increased economic activities which would benefit families, businesses and communities, describing it as a flagship investment.

She added that the MCC did not only provide the funding but also worked closely with local partners to implement the projects and ensure the needed structural reforms accompanying the new investments.

She added that the MCC was working in Ghana to reduce poverty through economic growth with the provision of a grant of $316 million through the Ghana Power Compact programme. It was doing that with implementing partners at the Millennium Development Authority and in partnership with entities such as GRIDCo and ECG.

IPPs

A Deputy Minister of Energy, Dr Amin Adam, stated that negotiations on power purchase agreements with Independent Power Producers (IPPs) were underway to ensure that the taxpayer got value for money.

He said with renewable energy, the ministry continued to make strides towards ensuring viability in the country’s energy mix and secure the integrity of the environment.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

The Majority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has given an assurance that Parliament will not disappoint Ghanaians in the consideration and passage of the bill that seeks to criminalise lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, etc (LGBTQI+) activities in the country.

He said Members of Parliament (MPs) were representatives of the people, for which reason the citizenry should rest assured that Parliament would not turn its back on them.

Speaking to the press in Parliament House yesterday to address the confusion surrounding the stance of Parliament on the bill, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who is also the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, expressed doubt that any lawmaker would be against the principles of the bill.

“We represent their interests and we will do what is needful and what is right for the people of this country. Be rest assured that Parliament will not disappoint,” he said.

Careful balance

While giving the assurance that Parliament would do the right thing with regard to the bill, the Majority Leader, however, said there was the need for a “careful balance” in assessing it.

He stressed that while democracy was about majority rule, “it doesn’t also mean we should trample on the rights of others”, emphasising that “we are a democratic country and Parliament should ensure that the rights of citizens are protected”.

“If we recognise that there are statutes and there are gaps or the statutes are not strong enough and need tightening, it means that we accept the principle that this whole thing is something that will not sit well with public morality in this country.

“I think it is about the smithing of the bill and how we attain the results that we all want. I guess when we come to the bridge, we will certainly be able to cross it. Where there is a will, there is always a way, so whatever happens, we should be able to deal with it,” he said.

“I am really impressed by the popular participation exhibited by the people of this country. I only plead that we should not, after the passage of this bill, go to sleep because there are many other bills that are outstanding and we have not been able to deal with, including in particular the imperatives of Article 22, which is on property rights of spouses,” he added.

‘We have our own set of values’

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu noted that the first provision of Article 125 of the Constitution was emphatic that justice emanated from the people, who had their own set of values and concept of what was right and wrong.

He said regardless of the region the people came from, it was their unique set of values “that guards us in life and it is the reason the Constitution provides that justice emanates from the people”.

“As a Christian, who belong to the Assemblies of God, I cannot say that my upbringing has not been impacted by my Christian values; equally so for the Honourable Habib Iddrisu, the Second Deputy Majority Whip, who is a Muslim and is here with me and whose upbringing is also impacted by his religion.

“But we have our own set of values and I really do not know of any ethnic group in Ghana which will applaud the issues about LGBTQI+,” he said.

Cut off emotions

The MP for Suame indicated that MPs had listened to the concerns expressed by Ghanaians and the House would do the needful.

“My plea is that those who are making contributions and calling into radio and television programmes should cut the emotions and sentiments because they cloud the rationality of the issues,” said.

With the bill having gone through the first reading and referred to the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to handle it, he said, the citizenry had the right to exercise popular participation by discussing the issues.

He, however, entreated the organised groups, including churches, mosques and civil society organisations, to submit memoranda on the bill to the committee.

He noted that Article 106 of the Standing Orders provided that the report of the committee, together with the explanatory memoranda to the bill, shall form the basis for a full debate of the bill for its passage, with or without amendment, or its rejection by Parliament.

“So the bases of the debate that we are going to have in Parliament are the memoranda to the bill and the hearings that the committee will submit itself to, which will in turn form the basis of the report that they will send to the House,” he said.

Committee’s consideration of bill

The Majority Leader pointed out that while the debate on the bill by Parliament would be public, just like any other bill before the House, the decision on whether or not the consideration of the bill by the committee should be made public or be behind closed-door lay with the committee itself.

Asked if at the committee level consideration would be made for public hearing of the bill, the Majority Leader said it was for the committee to decide.

“We have nothing to hide because the issues are out there in the public space. If the committee decides to have a public hearing, I am not sure leadership will stand in their way because we want what is best for this country,” he said.

He, however, acknowledged the fact that per the Standing Orders, House committee sittings should be held in camera unless the chairman otherwise decided.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

The National Service Secretariat (NSS) has released postings for the 2021/2022 service year.

In all, 81,081 graduates have been posted to enrol in various agencies across the country and begin their one-year mandatory national service from Monday, October 11, 2021.

Prospective service personnel have been asked to visit the scheme’s website http://www.portal.nss.gov.gh for confirmation of their place of posting and have their letters of appointment endorsed.

The Secretariat has however directed that all posting registration processes should be completed by Friday, November 5, 2021.

“The Management of National Service Scheme (NSS) has today, October 6, 2021, deployed a total of 81,081 graduates from accredited tertiary institutions who enrolled for the 2021/2022 national service to various user agencies across the country,” the National Service Secretariat added in a statement.

The Secretariat further announced that it has put on hold the placement of some prospective service personnel following discrepancies detected in their online registration details.

“Management wishes to inform the general public that, some prospective service personnel have been placed on hold for further verification due to discrepancies detected in their online registration details.”

“Notifications have already been sent to the affected personnel, and they are hereby directed to visit any regional office of the scheme with a copy of the enrollment forms, student ID, any national ID and a soft copy of their passport picture saved with their NSS number as file name to clear them for posting,” the statement added.

Registration amid COVID-19

As part of measures to minimize large crowds at the registration centres, all posted national service personnel are required to schedule an appointment online and visit the registration centres on the scheduled date and time for validation with strict adherence to the COVID-19 protocol guidelines.

“This is a special provision implemented to facilitate service registration following the delay in the release of the postings in the wake of COVID-19,” the NSS said.

Meanwhile, all deployed national service personnel have been entreated to accept their postings as part of their civic obligations to contribute meaningfully to national development.

Source: Citinewsroom.com

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has said that it is working to phase out the one Ghana cedi and the two Ghana cedi notes from circulation.

The Governor of BoG, Dr Ernest Addison, said on Monday (September 27) that the notes will ultimately be replaced by their coin versions, which were currently co-circulating.

He said the decision was needed to improve the bank’s cost of currency management.

Dr Addison told journalists on Monday that the central bank had realised that it was not cost effective to keep the two sets of notes in circulation, as they mostly returned dirty and worn out, requiring frequent replacements.

He was responding to a question on why the two cedi note was in short supply in some parts of the country during the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee press conference.

“In the long run, the plan is that the one and two cedi notes should be phased out. They are not cost-effective.”

“They mostly return torn, soiled and dirty. We’ve bails and bails of those two and so the view is to get them out and use the coins,” he said.

The BOG, which is the bank to the government, regulates the printing and circulation of currency in the country.

The current two cedi note was introduced in April 2010 as a commemorative note to mark the centenary celebration of the birth of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the country’s first President.

SOURCE: GRAPHIC.COM.GH

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Ghana has kept its Policy rate – the rate at which it lends to commercial banks – at 13.5%.

This is due to threats to growth and inflation.

Prior to this announcement, some research institutions including the Institute of Economic Affairs have projected an unchanged policy rate for at least the next two and half months.

Addressing the press, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, said it was necessary to keep the policy rate unchanged due to developments in both the local and global economies.

“The Committee noted that the recovery in global economic activity has continued, although unevenly spread across regions and countries. But, uncertainties regarding the continued spread of the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus, variations in policy stimulus programmes, and low access to vaccines in emerging market and frontier economies may weaken near-term growth prospects.”

Again, “global inflationary pressures are expected to be strong in the near term. However, the factors driving headline inflation are judged to be temporary. The still sizeable spare capacity in the global economy and the slackness in labour market conditions would restrain wage growth and prevent a significant and sustained pick-up in underlying inflation. Inflation is expected to return to their target over the medium-term as the spare capacity is eroded”, Dr. Addison said.

On the domestic front, the Governor stated that the Committee was of the view that growth continues to recover from the impact of the pandemic as high frequency economic indicators point to continued recovery in economic activity, even though below pre-pandemic levels.

“Although consumer confidence picked up, weakening business sentiments, stemming from supply disruptions, is adversely impacting input costs, driving down short-term company prospects. While credit to the private sector saw a marginal pickup, the trends remain below expectations largely on account of pandemic-related risk aversion. The COVID-19 related macro-prudential measures, put in place by the Bank of Ghana, will be maintained for the time being to support full recovery in economic activity”, he stressed.

Though the banking sector balance sheet performance remains strong with sustained growth in total assets, investments and deposits, the MPC also took note of the fact that the trend of increased domestic financing of the deficit, driven by high-yielding government paper held largely by banks, was crowding out credit to the private sector.

Again, the Governor said “the latest data suggests that fiscal consolidation efforts appear to be on track, but with some inherent risks associated with wage settlements and energy sector payments, amid low revenue mobilization.”

Also, inflation has risen sharply over the last two readings, driven mainly by sustained food price increases.

But the Governor said a close monitoring of the inflation situation is however warranted to respond swiftly to prevent potential second round effects on headline inflation from the rising food inflation, adding, the Committee stands ready to respond appropriately as needed if this particular risk materialises.

“Given these considerations, and the fairly balanced risks to inflation and growth in the outlook, the Committee decided to keep the policy rate at 13.5%”, the Governor mentioned.

Money market rates trend downwards

Money market interest rates continued on the downward path across the yield curve.

The 91-day and 182-day Treasury bill rates declined to 12.5% percent and 13.3 percent respectively, in August 2021, from 14.0% and 14.1% respectively, in August 2020.

Similarly, the rate on the 364-day instrument decreased marginally to 16.2%, from 16.9% over the same comparative period.

Except for rates on the 15-year and 20-year bond which remained unchanged at 19.8% and 20.2%, respectively, rates on all other medium- to long-term instruments generally declined.

The weighted average inter-bank rate also declined to 12.6%, from 13.6%, largely reflecting improved liquidity conditions on the inter-bank market, which had transmitted to lending rates.

Consequently, average lending rates of banks declined marginally to 20.5% in August 2021, from 21.4% recorded in the same period of 2020, consistent with developments in the inter-bank market.

SOURCE: JOY BUSINESS

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has indicated that it will from today [Friday, September 24], continue its immunization exercise in the Greater Accra Regional Health Directorate for Ghanaian citizens who have not been vaccinated against the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the GHS in its press statement, individuals who have received the first jab of AstraZeneca vaccines can also participate in the 5-day exercise scheduled to end on September 29.

“As part of the rollout plan, the Service is continuing the vaccination exercise starting from Friday, 24 September 2021. This phase of the exercise is open to the general public. Persons 18 years or older who have never received a vaccine or have received only one dose of AstraZeneca are to participate in this exercise,” parts of the release read.

This comes after the government procured additional vaccines to enable it to attain herd immunity.

Members of the general public above the age of 17 years are advised to take along a valid Photo ID card when visiting any of the designated centres within their respective regions for vaccination.

Also, persons due for the “2nd dose of AstraZeneca should preferably send the ID card presented for the 1st dose as well as their Covid-19 vaccination card.”

Despite these initiatives, the Ghana Health Service is calling for strict adherence to the safety protocols.

In March this year, the country started the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines beginning with AstraZeneca.

Since then, the GHS noted that over 1million persons have received at least one dose of AstraZeneca, Sputnik-V or Johnson & Johnson vaccine with nearly 800,000 of them being fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, the Health Service has reiterated that it will not relent in its efforts at acquiring additional vaccines to control the coronavirus disease.

SOURCE: Myjoyonline.com