COVID-19 Vaccination Outreach Under the Sun in South Sudan
Much has been written about how long and difficult it has been to get adequate vaccines into nations in Africa. Issues emerged early in the pandemic as richer countries cornered the market on COVID-19 vaccines. This slowed the ability for global purchasing programs, like Covax, to procure vaccines and eventually donations were also called into play to fill the need in low- and middle-income countries. There is still limited technology transfer and sharing, restricting increases in global production.
Now, the game is changing a bit, which is a hopeful sign. As Dr. John Nkengasong, the director of the Africa CDC, has noted, the supply challenge has temporarily subsided with greater attention now needed to vaccine delivery and especially efforts to encourage people to get vaccinated.
“To see first-hand how those efforts are going on the ground, I visited a street vaccination pop-up site in Juba.”
To see first-hand how those efforts are going on the ground, I visited a street vaccination pop-up site in Juba, the capital of South Sudan. Our organization, Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB), helped established this site with support from the Africa CDC and in partnership with the Ministry of Health of South Sudan. The team positioned the site at the entrance to the main market area on a Saturday morning with lots of colorful banners and umbrellas encouraging people to stop and see what was going on. With temperatures upwards of 100 degrees, the umbrellas at the vaccination site offered a seat in the shade to the willing or curious.
A CMMB vaccinator administering a COVID-19 vaccine at a main market in Juba, South Sudan in March 2022.
While I was there, a good number of people of various ages stopped by to enquire and many decided to get vaccinated. Others were a bit more reluctant, and one young man kept trying to convince another that this was safe and necessary. A couple who were at the market with their young son asked a number of questions which the CMMB counseling staff were able to answer patiently: both decided to get vaccinated while their young son watched with interest.
The intake team listed those who wanted to receive vaccinations in government sponsored registers, noting the age and local address of those who came to get vaccinated. Most of those vaccinated while I was there were between 20 and 50 years old. A gray-haired gentleman came by, but then he let us know he had already been vaccinated! Suddenly a group of young men came up—5 men looking to be in their 20’s and they were led by a CMMB organizer who was walking through the markets to generate interest and bring folks back to the vaccination site.
“This COVID-19 vaccination outreach effort wasn’t an easy task, especially given the heat, but the vaccinators did a great job.”
This combination of being in a well-traveled place and adding a recruiter to talk to people about the vaccine proved quite effective. I also saw a young man who worked in the electronics store just behind where the team had set up. He was one of the first people vaccinated, leaving the other workers in his shop to handle customers. Then, he went back to work and one by one, his fellow team members also came to get vaccinated.
Mary Beth Powers and CMMB COVID-19 vaccination campaign outreach team in Juba, South Sudan in March 2022.
This COVID-19 vaccination outreach effort wasn’t an easy task, especially given the heat, but the vaccinators did a great job. They administered the vaccines and asked people to sit for a short time in the shade of the umbrellas to ensure that they didn’t suffer any unexpected reactions. In the first two hours, they had vaccinated close to twenty people, and talked to many more about the benefits. It had all the elements that we deem necessary for success: easy access, quality trained providers, counseling to answer any questions, and some local individuals who themselves were trusted sources of information who convinced their friends and neighbors to sit down for vaccination.
“It is going to take more than just additional health workers.”
As CMMB works to improve vaccine coverage and other health services, we see that it is going to take more than just additional health workers. Mobilization and community education efforts are needed so that the demand keeps pace with the supply.
We need investments on both sides of the equation, and we need to make sure governments are adding that into their calculus as they do global and local planning to end the pandemic and prepare for any further health security threats.