A lift to COVID-19 vaccination drive in Togo

Kara – On the fringe of a small discipline within the outskirts of Kara metropolis in northern Togo the place a crowd gathered for the annual Evala pageant¬—a standard celebration that includes wrestling contests—in mid-2022, a brilliant colored bus drew small teams of individuals for a vital subject: COVID-19 vaccination.

In February 2022 Togo launched a cellular vaccination drive on wheels. Buses geared up with vaccines and a workforce of well being staff traversed distant areas, stopping at markets and different social occasions to offer COVID-19 prevention suggestions and vaccination to assist improve safety in opposition to the virus throughout the nation.

All through 2022 as COVID-19 instances declined, taking providers nearer to individuals was one of many essential public well being measures undertaken by Togolese well being authorities to extend vaccine uptake. The initiative dubbed “vaccinobus”, roughly “vaccines on wheels”, is supported by World Well being Group (WHO) and the US Company for Worldwide Improvement (USAID). It goals to achieve all individuals aged 12 years and above who aren’t absolutely vaccinated in opposition to COVID-19.

“I had already taken the primary dose however given the space to the centre and largely due to worry from what individuals have been saying on social media, I used to be hesitant to take the second dose,” says Kodjo Malazoue, 41, a farmer in Elimdè in northern Togo. He just lately took his second dose of COVID-19 vaccine in a “vaccine bus”.

Within the 9 days of the Evala pageant, about 5500 individuals have been vaccinated by the cellular groups in all of the websites internet hosting the occasion in Kara, greater than a 3rd the quantity vaccinated by 40 fixed-site groups throughout the identical interval, says Dr Abdel Kader Médé Alfa, Director of Well being for Kozah prefecture in Kara. 

“It’s good to have the vaccination groups within the pageant websites so individuals will be vaccinated,” says Akouavi Yoyisson, a retired trainer who took her booster dose. “As I had already acquired two doses, I took the chance to take the booster dose as a result of the vaccines have been delivered to us. It’s extremely accessible.”

The cellular service together with different vaccination methods noticed the nationwide vaccination charge of the focused inhabitants rise to 18% by December 2022 from 12% at first of the yr.

The cellular vaccination groups have additionally served Grand Lomé and Maritme areas in Togo’s south to extend vaccine consciousness in additional than 180 localities and neighbourhoods. 

“This can be a nice innovation. An efficient cellular technique,” says Thibaut Williams, Director of USAID’s Regional Well being Workplace for West Africa. “This technique can be utilized to offer different well being providers, increase consciousness and share well being data.”

Along with vaccination, the cellular vaccination initiative has helped in mobilizing communities, sort out misinformation and rumours and reassure the general public over vaccine security and advantages. Dr Koffi Vovolite Agbétsiafa, the director of well being of Golf prefecture within the south of Togo, notes that the initiative additionally helped in disseminating well being promotion messages. 

The Ministry of Well being is contemplating extending the initiative to different vaccine-preventable ailments. “With the superb outcomes we have now achieved with the “vaccine bus”, we are able to solely encourage the ministry to increase it to different campaigns,” says Dr Fatoumata Binta Tidiane Diallo, WHO Consultant in Togo. “We thank USAID for its assist in piloting this revolutionary strategy. We are able to reassure the federal government and all companions of WHO’s readiness to assist all initiatives that guarantee higher well being for all and in every single place.”