Every dose matters:

"Whenever I'm at the clinic and I notice that the refrigerators have gone silent, I know we are in trouble." says Jamila Mohammed Mawazo, a vaccination coordinator in Shinyanga region.

When power fails, the system that keeps vaccines safe fails with it.

Vaccines must be kept between +2°C and +8°C to remain safe and effective, but for years, unreliable electricity made maintaining that narrow window difficult, sometimes impossible.

“There were nights when the refrigerators would go silent,” Jamila recalls. “And mornings when I walked into the storage room with a knot in my stomach, hoping the temperature had held.”

One morning, that fear became reality.

“I opened the door and immediately knew something was wrong,” Jamila recalls. “The electricity was cut off, and even the generator had failed,” she explains. “We had to move the vaccines to a neighbouring district, or risk returning them to the Regional Office for storage, more than 50 kilometres away.”

Inside, thousands of vaccine doses were at risk. There was no time to hesitate.

“We had to act fast,” Jamila says. “We packed everything, moved the refrigerators to the neighbouring district, repacked them and then did it all over again once the electrictity was restored.”

The process was relentless and the stakes were high.

“It was exhausting. And terrifying,” she adds. “One mistake could have compromised vaccines meant to protect an entire generation of children.”

That same uncertainty was felt far beyond the storage room.

For Sharifa Nyangalio, a mother of three, it shaped every trip to the health facility.

“There were days I walked long distances, carrying one child on my back and holding the hands of the others,” she says.

But getting to the health centre did not always guarantee vaccination for our children.

“Sometimes we were told the refrigerator had gone off during the night,” Sharifa explains. “The nurses weren’t sure if the vaccines were still safe. We would wait… or be asked to come back another day.”

For a parent, those moments bring painful questions.

“Is the vaccine still good? Will my child be protected? Will I have to miss another day of work?” she says. “That uncertainty was very hard.”

In July 2024, they found a solution.

With generous funding from the Government of the Republic of Korea, UNICEF started an initiative to solarize health facilities across Shinyanga, starting with 15 priority facilities and scaling up toward 75, solar-powered energy systems with battery storage are being installed to provide uninterrupted electricity for essential health services.

These systems are enabling facilities to operate reliably even where grid power is inconsistent, strengthening healthcare delivery while building climate resilient infrastructure.

The systems capture energy during the day and store it for use at night, ensuring round the clock power for critical services.

For Jamila, the impact was immediate.

“Now, the refrigerators run 24 hours a day!” she says. “Temperatures remain stable, outreach can be planned with confidence, and for the first time in years, I sleep knowing the vaccines are safe.”

For Sharifa, the change is felt in the way her experiences at health center go.

“Everything is different now,” she reflects. “The sessions run on time. The nurses are calm and assured. I no longer question whether the vaccines are safe.” Holding her child close, she adds, “It gives me peace of mind knowing that my children, and all the children in our community, are protected.”

Beyond sustaining the cold chain system, reliable power is restoring trust in the health system, enabling health workers to deliver care with confidence, and ensuring that every child receives vaccines that are safe, effective, and lifesaving.

“Solar energy hasn’t just powered our equipment. It has restored our peace of mind!” Jamila says, smiling.