Reaching Efate’s offshore islands with COVID-19 vaccines
Looking back to when Vanuatu received the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX
In the bamboo decorated community hall at Laonamoa Village on Pele Island, Vanuatu, people turned up in numbers eager to receive their COVID-19 vaccine.
They were greeted by the Ministry of Health’s Shefa Provincial Health mobile vaccination team led by Registered Nurse Enok Tarip.
Enok started his day early at Saupia Health Centre on Paunagisu where he is normally based, located on the northern part of the island of Efate. Together with his team, they went through their checklist of materials needed to take for the planned outreach to Pele, one of Efate’s offshore islands – a priority for the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine. The offshore islands of Efate are close to the mainland and there is constant traffic between them and the main island.
Enok always has to make sure that he has all of the equipment he needs. This morning, prior to departing for the little island, together with his team, he carefully packed the vaccine carriers with pre-conditioned icepacks to keep the COVID-19 vaccines safe and portent. He can estimate the number of eligible adults in the communities that they are targeting based on the population. This makes sure that they do not run out and there are no missed opportunities.
From Saupia Health Centre, with his team and all of their equipment, it’s a 10-minute drive to Emua Landing where a boat awaits them. After loading all of their equipment on the 7-metre long fiberglass boat, the only means of transport available for the offshore islands, Enok and his team gingerly step foot onboard, following the boat driver’s advice on who sits where based on approximate weight distributions. From the landing, the experienced boat driver noses the boat out into the passageway.
Its Enok and his team’s lucky day. The sun is out, and the water is a bright sky blue colour. Were the conditions different, the team and all their equipment, except for those stored carefully in the covered-up nose of the boat, would be soaking wet before the middle of their journey.
After a 45-minute boat ride, made more treacherous for the fact that it is often made without a lifejacket, the team descends on the far side of Pele Island. The only mishap was one of the team members tripping while tracking to get off the boat and landing in shallow seawater not far from the shore.
“Last week, we spent the entire week on another offshore island, Emau, where initially there was some reluctance by the community, but in the end the community came forward to get the vaccine," said Enok.
“Our biggest challenge is the rumors circulating in communities about the COVID-19 vaccines spread through social media: our community coconut news does not help either!” said Enok.
With traditional and religious beliefs being quite strong in Vanuatu, for Enok and his team it is even more important to start the vaccination outreach with an awareness and information session that also provides the opportunity for the community members to have their questions and concerns responded to.
Once the awareness session is completed, the village chief responds thanking the team for coming to vaccinate his people.
Then it is a well-oiled process where community members line up to get additional information on the vaccine, then register for the vaccine, go through medical counselling, and finally get a jab on their upper arm before being monitored for 15-30 minutes for any immediate side effects.
Once Enok’s team have completed vaccinations at Laonamoa Village, they move inland on the island to support their colleagues in the mobile vaccination team to finish off the immunization of eligible community members. Once this is complete, both teams get back onto their boats for the ride back to the mainland as dusk is starting to fall.
The life-saving vaccines administered in Pele were part of the first batch of 24,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines to arrive in Vanuatu through the COVAX Facility, a partnership between CEPI, GAVI, UNICEF and WHO. UNICEF led the procurement of the vaccines through partnership with the Vanuatu Ministry of Health.
