Tamale Teaching Hospital workers threaten to strike over lack of COVID-19 vaccines

The threat comes following the inability of the doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratorians, orderlies, and security workers at the health facility to access the COVID-19 vaccines.

The health workers said they will withdraw their services on Friday, March 12, 2021.

"Our attention has been drawn to the fact that non-health workers are receiving the COVID-19 vaccines while we, the frontline workers here in Tamale Teaching Hospital, have no access to the vaccine," the staff said in a statement.

The COVID-19 team at the hospital complained that they have not received their 50 percent basic salary allowance promised by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo when he announced a three-month extension of the incentive package paid to frontline health workers to help them fight COVID-19 in the country.

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"We have not received our 50 percent basic salary allowance as promised...All efforts for authorities to make payment to us here have proven futile. This is already in arrears of seven months," the workers said.

According to them, "No member of the team has received any insurance package promised to frontline workers when they get infected by COVID-19 in line of duty."

The health workers added that these concerns have "demotivated almost all members of the team and also has brought down morale at the holding, isolation and treatment centres for COVID-19 in TTH."