Integrating COVID-19 vaccination into routine immunization programs

Since March 12, 2020, Guinea has been facing the COVID-19 pandemic. To combat this disease, COVID-19 vaccination is gradually being integrated into routine immunization programs in certain regions of the country.

In N'Zoo, in the administrative region of N'Zérékoré, vaccination against COVID-19 is progressing successfully thanks to the commitment of vaccinators like Hubert. "Every day we go to villages that don't have health posts, so we vaccinate pregnant women and children 7 days a week. We also go there with COVID-19 vaccines. Once in these villages, as two people vaccinate women and children, the third person vaccinates the unvaccinated with COVID-19," explains Hubert.

Vaccinators regularly visit remote villages, organizing vaccination sessions to reach pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and children to administer routine vaccines as well as those against COVID-19.

At the N'zoo health center, vaccination against COVID-19 continues on a daily basis, especially on market days when vaccinators take advantage of the crowds to raise awareness about the importance of vaccination. Hubert explains that health workers systematically ask every person who comes to the health center if they have been vaccinated against COVID-19. "If the person says no, I'm not vaccinated, we make them aware so that they agree to be vaccinated. Once they agree, we take all the necessary steps to vaccinate them. After the first dose, we give them their vaccination booklet and remind them of their next appointments for booster doses, because some people can't read."

Mawa, was vaccinated against COVID-19 during an appointment at the health center for her child. She had originally come for her granddaughter's vaccination, but the vaccinators made her aware of the importance of getting vaccinated.

"The vaccinators asked me if I had been vaccinated against COVID-19, but I admitted that I hadn't. So they asked me if I'd been vaccinated. That's how they made me realize the importance of getting vaccinated. Seeing so many other people taking the vaccine, I agreed to be vaccinated. I was vaccinated for free. Here's my booklet. I have to come back for the second dose according to the date on the booklet. "

Thanks to the efforts of the health workers, 89% of the target population in the community has been vaccinated against COVID-19. UNICEF, in collaboration with the Government of Guinea and with the support of the Canadian UNICEF Committee, is supporting routine vaccination against COVID-19 in the country.