A collection of campaign stories captured and curated by Linksbridge SPC
Featured Stories
Slated to run from October 26-November 25, the Philippines’ planned pilot measles, polio and rubella vaccination campaign only lasted two days and reached a fraction of eligible children due to Typhoon Quinta and a rise in Covid-19 infections among healthcare workers. The campaign—which targeted children under age 5 with bOPV drops and ages 9-59 months for measles-rubella shots in the Bicol, Cagayan Valley, CAR, Ilocos, Mimaropa and Mindanao regions—will be postponed until early November. Philippine Department of Health; Philippine Daily Inquirer
Nigeria is resuming a 10-day preventive mass vaccination campaign against yellow fever for people ages 9 months-44 years following a coronavirus-driven postponement. The campaign’s third phase will kick off on October 23 in Anambra state—target 6 million people. The fourth phase, beginning November 20, will reach 30 million people in Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Delta, Osun, Ondo and Oyo. The Anambra round will include meningitis A vaccinations for at least 1 million children ages 1-5 years. WHO; Anambra Broadcasting Service
South Sudan launched a mass drug administration event against schistosomiasis on October 25 targeting over 700,000 children 5 to 14 years old in 15 endemic counties of Lakes and Northern Bahr el Ghazal states. WHO
Outbreak Response
After a delay due to ongoing budget discussions, Sudan now plans to vaccinate 8.6 million children under 5 against polio with mOPV2 drops in all 18 states in the country on November 9. This is the first vaccination campaign to be launched in response to a cVDPV2 outbreak that began in March. OCHA; UNICEF
Ghana vaccinated over 4.6 million children against polio October 8-11 in the third phase of a door-to-door campaign (postponed in March due to Covid-19). After relaunching phase three of the campaign in September, the country finished the third and final round of vaccinations this month, reaching children under age 5 in eight regions and providing vitamin A tablets to children ages 6-59 months. WHO
Ethiopia ran a four-day anti-polio drive October 7-10 targeting more than 7 million children under age 5 in 44 zones and 334 districts. OCHA
Somalia ran the second round of a four-day mOPV2 campaign from October 25-28, administering drops door-to-door to 1.65 million children under age 5 in the south and central regions. OCHA
After Covid-19 delayed an emergency campaign responding to a March outbreak, South Sudan ran an anti-yellow fever drive in Kajo Keji county of Central Equatoria state from October 23-28, targeting over 90,000 people ages 9 months-60 years. WHO
Local Campaigns
Pakistan is running a subnational door-to-door polio vaccination campaign from October 26-November 1—targeting more than 30 million children under age 5 in 128 districts. Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme
Afghanistan launched a polio vaccination campaign on October 26 targeting nearly 10 million children under age 5. Reporterly tweet; Acting Health Minister tweet
Brazil conducted a multi-vaccination drive from October 5-30 focused on updating children’s vaccine records and polio prevention. The nationwide campaign aimed to reach about 11 million children between ages 1-5 with the oral polio vaccine. Fiocruz; Fiocruz
Angola ran an integrated polio, vitamin A and measles-rubella campaign October 16-24 in the provinces of Bengo, Cabinda, Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul, Malanje, Moxico and Uíge targeting over 900,000 children. The measles-rubella shot was given only in places with registered cases. Agência Angola Press; OCHA
Lebanon resumed a national measles and polio immunization campaign that started back in December but was disrupted due to the pandemic. Set to target 364,130 children ages 6 months to 10 years overall, the campaign reached 231,200 in Baalbek Hermel, North and Akkar prior to the pause. Lebanon ran a pilot phase October 14-25 in Keserwan and Hasbaya districts and will continue from November 2 through year-end in Beirut, Mount Lebanon, Bekaa, the South and Nabatiyeh. UNICEF
Uganda launched a five-day oral cholera vaccine campaign in late October in Busia and four other districts (Hoima, Kasese, Namayingo and Ntoroko), administering the first dose in Busia door-to-door to 60,000 people 1 year and older. The campaign will follow up with the second dose in mid-November. Busia District Government; New Vision UG
Peru ran its first national multi-vaccination campaign October 10 and 11 in the Arequipa region, vaccinating over 14,000 people—significantly exceeding the 5,300-person target. The campaign provided 17 types of vaccinations for prevention of up to 26 diseases and immunized over 6,000 children and adolescents from birth to 17 years and nearly 8,000 adults. Andina; Ministry of Health tweet
Bangladesh ran a nine-day national vitamin A campaign between October 6-14 for children ages 6 months to five years. UNICEF tweet
On October 17, Nigeria launched integrated measles-meningitis A prevention campaigns in Niger and Koji states—administering measles vaccines to children 9-59 months of age and the meningitis shots to children 12-59 months of age. NPHCDA tweet
Zambia’s Kalumbila district in the Northwestern province launched a mass drug administration event for malaria in mid-October, distributing dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine in communities across the district over three days. The Globe Online