Heart Inflammation Scare As GHS Eyes Vaccinating Ghanaian Teenagers With Pfizer

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has issued a statement notifying the public that it would soon start vaccinating students aged 15 years and above with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines despite reports of outbreaks of Myocarditis, an irreversible heart inflammation caused by the vaccine in a significant proportion of teenagers who received it worldwide.

Currently, about 1,200 cases of myocarditis and pericarditis in the United States have been reported and about 100 reported in the United Kingdom. Also, among patients in a large Israeli health care system who had received at least one dose of the Pfizer’s BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine, the estimated incidence of myocarditis was 2.13 cases per 100,000 persons with young males between the ages of 16 and 29 years at the most risk.

Meanwhile, a statement released by the GHS on November 18, 2021, says the decision comes after the Ghanaian Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) approved the vaccine to be used to jab that segment of teenage students in Ghana.

“As part of measures at halting the spread of COVID-19 in schools and among the general public, the Ghana Health Service has planned to vaccinate all children aged 15 years and above as soon as possible to increase their level of protection against COVID-19. According to the Ghana Health Service, the Food and Drugs Authority has granted approval for extending the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to cover children from 15 years and above,” the GES said.

According to the American Centre for Disease Control (CDC), the heart condition sets in about five days following full vaccination with chest pains. No long-term study has been concluded to determine how those infected will fare, as experts say such heart inflammations are irreversible because heart tissues do not get replaced when damaged.

The UK’s main public health agency, Public Health England (PHE) admits that they cannot vouch for the long-term repercussions of Myocarditis, as it is still being studied.

“The existing evidence base shows that most patients with myocarditis post-vaccination respond well to standard treatment, and the prognosis of the myocarditis is good. However, it may have long-term consequences and studies are in progress to further understand the longer-term consequences with follow up at 3 months and 6 months,” the PHE said in an August 2021 statement.

It is unclear the rush to vaccinate teenagers in Ghana where severe illness or death of youngsters from COVID-19 is almost non-existent. Majority of the 130,000 cases of COVID-19 are adults with those with severe illness and death overwhelmingly above 50 years of age.

As a matter of fact, over 98.5% of the 130,000 COVID-19 cases recorded in Ghana had recovered with only 1,208 deaths recorded.

Data from the GHS shows that unlike in Europe and America that are seeing heavy spikes in the winter months, COVID-19 cases had significantly dropped in Ghana with a drastic slump between August 2012 and November 2021.

This is consistent with patterns recorded in several other African countries, with international health observers wondering why Africa has refused to see new waves since the second half of 2021.

It is therefore curious why the GHS is in a haste to toe the line of the West with huge spikes by vaccinating young adults with the lowest risk ratio for COVID-19. 

Importantly, the GHS’ move raises serious questions particularly when it has been proven over and again that the COVID-19 vaccines do not stop infections or spread, and that it is more beneficial in countries that have more deaths and hospitalization rates.

Incidentally, Ghana has recorded more deaths from road accidents this year than COVID-19, yet, the government has refused to consider the perennial carnage on Ghanaian roads as an epidemic