Mabinty Kamara went into hiding at her friend’s place after her mother who happens to be a medical practitioner compelled her to go and take the covid-19 vaccine.
For Kamara, the vaccine will prevent her from bearing children, hence, she would not settle for it.’ She told me that she doubt the existence of covid-19 disease in the country, adding that, unlike the Ebola disease, she is yet to see one individual that is carrying the disease or has died as a result of it.
Mariama Conteh of Kagbori Village, Karene District told me that she summed up courage to take the vaccine when the Section Chief of “Karbgori Village” took the vaccine and was healthy. Conteh disclosed that she and her household have taken the vaccine.
Section Chief, Kagbori Village, Fatmata Kargbo noted that traditional leaders have a crucial role to play in the vaccination exercise. Kargbo revealed that she had a series of engagements with her subjects in respect of vaccination. She added that through her leadership, she had been able to also encourage her subjects to maintain personal hygiene.
Nurse in charge, SCCHN, Kabenda Hospital, Karene District, Isata B. Kamara opined that the disease is in the country. She disclosed that she and her colleagues find it difficult to vaccinate residents of the District, noting that people were afraid that it will be counter-productive.
However, she disclosed that through the help of Community mobilizers who embarked on sensitization, they were able to win the confidence of the people. She stressed the need for more sensitization, for according to her, people do not get the required knowledge about vaccination.
Program Manager, Expanded Program Immunization (EPI), Dr. Desmond Maada Kangbai, remarked that the vaccine is safe, for it has been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Kangbai suggested that an effective way to sustain covid-19 campaign is to establish a strategic document for vaccination in the country. “There is need for periodic review of the national covid-19 development plan, establishment of strategic document for vaccination, improvement of health development partners, use of the 117 toll-free line,” he added.
Dr. Kangbai disclosed that a total of one million eight hundred and twenty-two thousand four hundred and twenty-eight people have been fully vaccinated in Sierra Leone.
He opined that Sierra Leone is doing relatively good in terms of vaccination, adding that he is hopeful that the country would have reached its target of 70% vaccination of the target population in December this year.
Dr. Kangbai also revealed that the utilization of the booster doses remains low, for according to him, only 12,817 people have received the dose.
Dr. Kangbai said there has been an increase in the distribution of vaccines as a result of the change in strategy with regard to distribution. “From 299 teams, we now have over 1,000 distribution teams across the country,” he revealed.
In terms of what he described as best practice, Dr. Kangbai said there is a need for a periodic review of the national COVID-19 development plan, establishment of strategic document for vaccination, improvement of health development partners, use of the 117 toll-free lines, among others.
In terms of challenges, Dr. Kangbai revealed that deployment was a major challenge. During our surge campaign, we have over 60,000 does in a single day, so getting the resources needed to deploy the team that vaccinates is a major challenge.
Going forward, Dr. Kangbai recommends effective collaboration and coordination between stakeholders and partners, improving health financing for Covid-19 vaccination in the country, developing and implementing a life vaccination model, establishing an effective and efficient national COVID-19 vaccination data management system, and improving Covid-19 vaccination access.
He further revealed that as of June 14, 2022, in Sierra Leone, 2, 622, 813 individuals have received at least a single dose of vaccine which is 46% of the targeted population and 30.5% of the country’s total population.
Chairman, National COVID-19 Response Centre (NaCOVERCE), Dr. Amara Jambai disclosed that they have been asked to close, but reveals that they will give NaCOVERCE an exit that befits what it has done.
Dr. Jambai said that they have made sure that coordination at NACOVERCE was at 100%. “We are among few countries in the world that was able to bring together both the military and the police in our response,” he added.
Dr. Jambai and his team proffered the following recommendations:
<The need for effective research and development for response activities
<The need for a sustainable entity for response activities
<The need for information and communication
<The need for effective coordination between the DHMTs and DISCOVERCE in the area of Covid-19 vaccination
<Ensure professional discharge of duties
<Project implementation should take cognizance of geographical and demographics
<Ensure effective inter-pillar collaboration and corporation
Program Manager, Expanded Program Immunization (EPI),
This story was put together with support from the journalist for Human Rights (JHR) and the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ).
