COVID-19 Response: Partners Have Always Stood By Cameroon

A day to the end of its end of mission in Cameroon that began on November 14, 2022, the team from the COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery Partnership, CoVDP, held a press conference in Yaounde Hilton Hotel on November 17, 2022. The delegation, led by CoVDP Deputy Coordinator, Dr. Richard Mihigo, was in Cameroon to learn more about the country’s Coronavirus pandemic response. And efforts to raise the level of COVID-19 vaccination rate. 
Also participating in the press conference was Dr. Landry Tsague, the Health Counselor of the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF Office to the African Union, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Dr. Phonah Afuluboe, the COVID-19 Vaccine Introduction Lead, WHO Regional Office for Africa; Dr Amani Adidja, Vaccines and Immunisation Expert, WHO Office for Africa; and Dr Tchokfe Shalom Ndoula, the Permanent Secretary of the Expanded Programme on Vaccination, Cameroon. 
“The number of cases has no doubt reduced, but prevention is better than cure like the old saying goes,” Dr Richard Mihigo reminded. While Dr Shalom Ndoula promised that efforts will be made to reach everyone through door-to-door visits, especially for people who cannot move around. “Efforts are being made by different partners for reticent members of the public to accept vaccination. We are faced with the challenge of fake news and complicity theories on COVID-19. We are happy there is engagement at the highest political level in Cameroon. Messages have to be adjusted accordingly,” Dr Mihigo noted. 
“During our visit, we met different authorities and were encouraged by the discussions we had. We are assured that the vaccination campaign beginning on November 18, 2022 will go well, given the level of preparations we witnessed,” he said. “Current COVID-19 statistics are underreported because people only test when they are travelling. But we must prepare for the next wave of infections by getting vaccinated,” Dr Richard Mihigo counselled.
According to Dr Shalom, the target is to vaccinate 2 million people. “We must achieve the target, even beyond the current campaign,” he pledged. Adding: “Vaccination has lots of benefits - for self protection, the economy, the society as a whole, etc. We will seek to reach 95 per cent of households during the campaign,” Dr Shalom promised.
“It is difficult to carry out a full vaccination in the midst of a pandemic because health staff are too busy with patients. COVID-19 has mutated, with new variants coming up – thus, the need for booster doses for those who completed vaccination six months before. This is a new disease that keeps changing and we have no history to fall back on. For now, we cannot say how many booster doses will be needed in future. Maybe a vaccine with much longer immunity will come up. Even the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which requires just a single dose to complete the vaccination, the World Health Organisation now recommends that a second dose be taken,” Dr. Landry Tsague, the Health...