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Mothers who send their children for malaria vaccination in the Gomoa West district of the Central Region have praised the health services for introducing malaria vaccine, saying, "the malaria vaccine is very good and effective with no sign of any side effects on their children after first, second and third doses of the vaccine".

According to Madam Charity Dadzie, one of the caregivers whose child has received three doses of the malaria vaccine, the vaccine is her saviour and it is very effective.

She is waiting for the fourth and final dose when her child turns two years.

This, she said, her child frequently suffered from malaria in the past thereby receiving some scolding from the health workers whenever she visits the hospital.

This she said is because the nurses blamed her for allowing her child to be bitten by mosquitoes, adding that, "but now it has become a thing of the past. And this is very encouraging".

Another mother Madam Patience Sey also said the vaccine has truly come to help the mothers in the district, because at the time when there was no malaria vaccine, at first, her child used to get sick frequently and always diagnosed with malaria fever whenever they visit the hospital

Esther Arthur, a mother of three, explained, because of the malaria vaccination she does not visit the hospital/clinic frequently with malaria fever like she used to with her child in previous times and her child is in a good condition now, adding "now I go about testifying about the malaria vaccine to my pregnant friends".

The mothers disclosed this as part of the pilot implementation of the malaria vaccination currently underway in the three selected countries in Africa; Ghana, Malawi and Kenya. And it is expected to cover at least 600,000 children who will be receiving the first dose of the vaccine as part of World Malaria Day, which coincides with the African vaccination week.

"We think the malaria vaccine should be made compulsory at the health centers for every eligible child born, because we believe that it will help we the mothers to protect our children against malaria”, mothers noted.

They indicated that as the mosquito net protects their children from mosquito bites, the malaria vaccine protects them from getting malaria.

"We only wish the disease could be eradicated from our environment permanently", they stated.

In Ghana, more than 680,000 doses of the malaria vaccine is expected to be administered, with some more than 230,000 children having received the first dose by the end of April, 2021