Reactive mass vaccination campaign against cholera in the COVID-19 context in Cameroon: challenges, best practices and lessons learned

Abstract

Introduction since 1971, Cameroon is facing a growing series of cholera epidemics despite all the efforts made by the government to address this huge public health threat. In 2020, in addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cameroon recorded a high cholera case fatality rate of 4.3% following epidemics noted in the South, Littoral and South-West regions. The Cameroon Ministry of Public Health, has thus organized a reactive vaccination campaign against cholera to address the high mortality rate in the affected health districts of those regions. The objective of this study was to describe the challenges, best practices and lessons learned drawing from daily experiences from this reactive vaccination campaign against cholera. Methods we conducted a cross-sectional study drawn from the results of the campaign. We had a target population of 631,109 participants aged 1 year and above resident of the targeted health areas. Results the overall vaccination coverage was 64.4% with a refusal rate ranging from 0-10% according to health districts. Vaccination coverage was the lowest among people aged 20 years and above. The main challenge was difficulty maintaining physical distanciation, the main best practice was the screening of all actors taking part at the vaccination against COVID-19 and we found that emphasizing on thorough population sensitization through quarter heads and social mobilizers and adequately programming the campaign during a good climate season is crucial to achieving good vaccination coverage. Conclusion lessons learned from this study could serve to inform various agencies in the event of planning rapid mass vaccination programs during pandemics.

Strengthening vaccination delivery system resilience in the context of protracted humanitarian crisis: a realist-informed systematic review

“…Both studies reported large improvements in administrative vaccination coverage following the respective campaigns, but noted large regional variations. Neither study included a formal cross-sectional survey or time-series analysis to statistically evaluate campaign impact, so results should be treated with caution [ 37 , 38 ].…”

“…[ [71][72][73][74] studies reported large improvements in administrative vaccination coverage following the respective campaigns, but noted large regional variations. Neither study included a formal cross-sectional survey or time-series analysis to statistically evaluate campaign impact, so results should be treated with caution [37,38]. Drawing transferable lessons from other campaignfocused studies in this review is limited by the diversity in contexts in which they were implemented, ranging from multi-vaccine delivery in low-income settings in the midst of active conflict [39,40], to OCV and measles and rubella (MR) vaccine deployment among displaced Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh [41].…”

Vaccinators' Perception of HPV Vaccination in the Saa Health District of Cameroon

“…For the introduction of the HPV vaccine, vaccinators felt the central level didn't adequately play its part in sensitising the population via mass media thereby rendering proximity sensitisation very tough. However, it has been shown that in rural areas during vaccination campaigns, a majority of the population is sensitised through proximity sensitisation as opposed to mass media ( 32 , 33 ). Generally, the district performs well in routine and supplementary immunisation activities.…”

Strengthening vaccination delivery system resilience in the context of protracted humanitarian crisis: a realist-informed systematic review

“…Both studies reported large improvements in administrative vaccination coverage following the respective campaigns, but noted large regional variations. Neither study included a formal cross-sectional survey or time-series analysis to statistically evaluate campaign impact, so results should be treated with caution (34,35).…”