COVID-19 Pandemic : Vaccine Promotion Team Concludes Cameroon Trip

The Minister of Public Health, Dr Malachie Manaouda on Friday, November 18, 2022 at the Yaounde Indoor Multi-purpose Sports Complex in the neighbourhood of Warda, launched Cameroon’s fifth vaccination drive against the Coronavirus. The event was also attended by the Minister of Women’s Empowerment and the Family, Prof. Marie-Therese Abena Ondoa; health stakeholders, local dignitaries and the visiting team from the COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery Partnership, CoVDP. 

Why The Mission?
The delegation was concluding a five-day visit to the country at the invitation of the authorities. The visit sought to understand response efforts to the pandemic by Cameroon and its partners. And how these efforts, especially, scaling up access to COVID-19 vaccination can be improved. The Minister said since March 5, 2020 when Cameroon had its first confirmed Coronavirus case, President Paul Biya directed that prompt action be taken. Vaccination against COVID-19 was introduced in the country at the beginning of 2021, though Cameroon is lagging behind in vaccination, he noted. So far, 12 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated despite infordemics or anti-vaccination rumours, Dr Manaouda disclosed.

It’s Not Over, Yet!
“Beware of large gatherings, especially with the start of the World Cup in Qatar and end-of-year activities and celebrations. These are avenues for infections. As long as there is a single case of Coronavirus in the country, it will remain a public health concern. We received assurances from the visiting CoVDP team of their continuous support to government in the responding to the pandemic,” the Minister noted.   

Death Toll
The period 2020-2022 will be remembered for long because of the Coronavirus pandemic. Though there has been a reduction in the number of cases, we must remain on our guard, the World Health Organisation, WHO Cameroon Country Representative, Dr Phanuel Habimana cautioned. He said Cameroon has recorded 1,965 deaths from Coronavirus since March 2020 and has so far undergone five waves of COVID-19 infections. 

Risks Persist, Though
“Low vaccination coverage exposes all of us to resurgence. The pandemic has affected economies all over the world, with 96 per cent of Cameroon’s enterprises touched and 13,000 jobs lost,” he revealed. “I take this opportunity to felicitate the government for its response to the pandemic. For example, the number of laboratories offering COVID-19 tests in the country has significantly increased,” Dr Habimana said. “We need to reassure the public to get vaccinated. We must prepare to prevent another wave of infections,” he implored.

Vaccination Challenges
According to the WHO Cameroon head, COVID-19 vaccine deployment faces the challenge of hesitation. He assured that all the COVID-19 vaccines administered in Cameroon were approved by the World Health Organisation and Cameroonian medical authorities. “It is everyone’s duty to share the positive experiences of COVID-19 vaccination,” he appealed. 

Successful Mission    
“The aim of the mission was mainly to meet with most of the authorities and all the actors involved in the COVID-19 vaccination. They were able to meet almost all the main actors. The mission also had as objective to have a better understanding of the ground and advocate and see how they can better support their plan. It is good that the mission coincided with the launch of Cameroon’s fifth COVID-19 national vaccination campaign. Overall, I think their goal was met. I think they were very pleased with what they heard from the main actors in terms of assisting the country to move on with COVID-19 vaccination,” the UNICEF Cameroon Country Representative, Mrs. Nadine Perrault, commented. 
    

Scaling up Access To Vaccination
“The COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery Partnership, CoVDP was established in January 2022 by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organisation, WHO and the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, to support countries to increase access to COVID-19 vaccination. The CoVDP mission was organised at the request of the Cameroon government. The Minister of Public Health informed us that Cameroon is working hard to increase access to COVID-19 vaccination and to tackle infordermics or the misconceptions about the vaccine. Which have affected the demand for vaccination by the population,” commented Dr. Landry Tsague, Senior Health Adviser with the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF Office to the African Union, and the...