The COVID-19 mega campaign: Vaccines into vaccinations
Highlights from South Darfur
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- العربية
COVID-19 vaccination rates in Sudan remain low. To boost vaccination rates, UNICEF and partners with funding from Norway and Gavi launched a mega COVID-19 vaccination campaign from 31 October to 12 November 2022. This targets over 3 million people in Gezira, Sennar, While Nile, North Darfur, South Darfur, West Darfur, East Darfur, and Central Darfur.
In South Darfur community awareness drives on the safety of the vaccines and their availability were conducted encouraging people to take the vaccine. Having stock of various vaccine types - Johnson, Pfizer and Sinopharm - catered to community preferences. Sufficient vaccines were available to support services at 150 mobile, 417 temporary and 132 fixed vaccination sites. Each site was manned by a team of three trained health workers that turned vaccines into vaccinations.
UNICEF’s coordination, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the campaign was critical to its success. The campaign reached the majority of the target population of about 600,000 people in the various localities.
Addressing barriers from previous campaigns
Previous COVID-19 campaigns registered low turnout of women. This time, a team of midwives were involved right from community mobilization through to the vaccination exercise to encourage women to participate in large numbers. Through this approach, various posts registered a significant increase of women vaccinated.
Community mobilization drives
Community mobilization drives are critical to sharing key information and rallying communities to participate in health campaigns and activities. The use of vehicles with megaphones and sound systems, and community mobilizers moving door-to-door across the various localities, were important during the mega COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
“Relying on sound systems for Nyala city and other big localities especially in the remote areas was an essential approach. They were impactful in mobilizing communities. For small localities mobile megaphones and radio were better options,” UNICEF’s Health Specialist, Dr. Babikir Nouraldien confirmed.
Hawa, the community mobilizer
East Jabaal Mara, one of the hard-to-reach areas in the state, is under-served. As such, it was earmarked as a target area for this campaign. Unique strategies were deployed to reach the unreached communities of this locality with the vaccination services. Among them was engagement of volunteers and community mobilizers including Hawa, from Derbat village. With her baby strapped on the back, Hawa moved to every corner of her village to ensure no one was left behind. Determined and engaging, Hawa convinced many to take the vaccine.
Community champions take lead
In Kobum locality 72-year-old Mansour Saghaa aka, the whistle man, was at the forefront of disseminating messages and awareness about the campaign. One of the most respected and recognized people in Kabasaa Village, Mansour is also known as a community champion.
For many years, he has championed health promotion drives such as this, with the COVID-19 campaign yet another one he would participate in.
During the campaign, the whistle man, wearing his yellow community mobilizer’s apron, whistled every time the vaccination site moved to a new location, to get the attention of the community. This reminded the communities of the vaccination campaign and the need to get the COVID-19 jab.
Schools, a target for the campaign
A big victory was realized on the fourth day of the campaign, in Nyala South locality. The health workers placed a vaccination site at Al Faneeya Industrial School, an all-boys school with a population of about 800 students above the age of 18 years, teachers and non-teaching staff.
The vaccinators begun with demystifying false information and rumours that the students had come across. This ranged from vaccines will affect our reproduction systems, to vaccines are meant to reduce the population in the country and to fears that the vaccines had expired.
When their Headteacher took the vaccine, the young men came closer and in 30 minutes, vaccines had turned into 150 vaccinations between the students and the teachers.
The campaign in South Darfur alone reached 101 per cent and over 90 per cent across the other states where the campaign was implemented.
