COVID-19 threatening immunisation gains in Nigeria, Africa – WHO
As the 2020 vaccination kicks off today, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that the coronavirus pandemic is causing significant disruption to vaccination efforts in Nigeria and the whole of Africa.
In a statement, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, emphasised that the brief interruption of vaccination activities make outbreaks more likely to occur.
According to her, it can put children and other vulnerable groups more at risk of life-threatening diseases.
“Africa has been experiencing a resurgence of measles.
“Measles preventive mass vaccination campaigns in Chad, Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Sudan have been suspended because of COVID-19, leaving around 21 million children who would have been vaccinated, unprotected.
“While the complexity and breadth of the COVID-19 response is unprecedented, we must continue to protect African children against vaccine-preventable diseases.
“Let us not be blind-sided by COVID-19 and let down our guard against measles and other childhood threats,” Dr. Moeti stated.
She added that the WHO has developed new guidelines on immunization in the context of COVID-19 that stress the need for a dynamic approach.
The guidelines, the WHO added, recommend that countries temporarily pause preventive mass vaccination campaigns, but urged countries to prioritise the continuation of routine immunization of children as an essential service delivery as well as adult vaccinations such as influenza for groups most at risk.
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“The conduct of outbreak response mass vaccination campaigns will require a careful risk-benefit analysis on a case-by-case basis.
“For example, countries under total lockdown may not be able to fully implement routine health services at all sites, so they may opt to preemptively scale up routine services before the announcement of total lockdown, or to ramp up once the lockdown ends.
“If immunization services must be suspended, urgent catch-up vaccinations should be rescheduled as soon as possible, prioritizing those most at risk,” the WHO added.
