According to Dr. Daniel Kyabayinze, Director of Public Health Services at the Ministry of Health, the government will begin vaccination 6.6 million students aged 12-17 years when the new school year begins on May 9.
The school-based immunization initiative follows a successful vaccination campaign against COVID-19 among the general population throughout the country, according to the Ministry of Health. It’s the latest sign of how the administration plans to keep schools secure.
“Children will be vaccinated because they may become sick and transmit the illness, therefore there are advantages to vaccination that age range,” Dr.
Kyabayinze said this on May 4 in Kampala at a press conference on the Vaccine Advocacy Accelerator-Uganda (VAX-Uganda) project, which aims to accelerate the fair and equitable distribution of vaccines in Uganda.
It is being implemented at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) in conjunction with the Massachusetts General Hospital, the Global Health Collaborative, and HEPS-Uganda, a health rights non-profit located in Kampala.
Dr. Kyabayinze, an infectious disease specialist, argues that despite popular impression of the “disappearance of COVID-19,” the Coronavirus is still there and scientists are certain that another wave will emerge.
He said that COVID-19 is a form of influenza that manifests itself in waves and spikes, as do all influenzas. “Right now, China has several cities under lockdown, so we know it’s coming,” he added.
“We had our lockup for roughly six months. So, if they are not immunized, we can be certain that it will occur. But when is it advisable to vaccinate? When no sickness exists.”
“When your home is on fire, you don’t plan for a fire. No, you install fire extinguishers and sprinklers before a fire breaks out. It is good to plan ahead of time.”
According to Kyabayinze, the government has opted to employ the Pfizer vaccination since it has been thoroughly researched.
According to official estimates, almost 14,000 children have caught COVID-19 throughout the nation since the outbreak began. Vaccinating children will therefore help limit the likelihood of COVID-19 spreading inside schools, spreading to parents and guardians, and preventing absence and school closure.
The Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Ministries of Education and Sports, Local Government, and the districts, will give information on the school-based vaccination program. Meanwhile, Ministry of Health officials said eligible youngsters who are not at school will be vaccinated in the school’s proximity.
Dr. Tabley Basajjatebadiba Bakyaita, the Assistant Commissioner of Health Services in charge of health communication at the Ministry of Health, said at the same event that the government would continue vaccinating Ugandans as long as COVID-19 remains a public health hazard.
“When you look at the childhood illnesses that the government immunizes against, you’ll see that some, like Diphtheria, no longer present in children but are nonetheless handled by vaccination. Likewise, we will continue to vaccinate against COVID-19 as long as it is a public health danger.”
On March 10, last year, the government launched a large vaccination campaign to inoculate almost 22 million individuals, or 49.6 percent of the country’s population, against COVID-19 in a staged method. Priority was given at the time to all of the country’s health professionals (150,000), teachers (550,000), and military people (250,000).
The other priority group included 3,348,500 adults over the age of 50 and almost 500,000 people over the age of 18 but with underlying health issues (hypertension, diabetes, and cancer, organ diseases such as liver, kidney or heart disease).
Other developing high risk and priority essential categories, such as airline and media personnel, inmates, tour operators and guides, bankers, immigration officials, Uganda Wildlife Authority and Uganda Revenue Authority professionals, and humanitarian workers, were later included.
Although there was a lackluster response at first due to unfavorable information about the immunizations, the program took up months later when the deadly Delta strain of the Coronavirus raced across the country and killed hundreds of people.
According to Ministry of Health data, as of May 2, this year, about 20.9 million doses of COVID-19 vaccination have been provided to Ugandans. There were around 15.7 million individuals who had received at least the first dosage, while 10,568,519 people were completely vaccinated.
This statistic includes the 5,421,000 persons who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccination in a single dose. The overall number of persons vaccinated thus far represents 49 percent of the targeted population.
As of April 25, about 191,575 health workers (127.7%) had gotten their first dosage, with 68.6% (102,958) completely vaccinated. 90% (496,110) of the targeted 550,000 instructors had gotten their first dosage, while 43.4 percent (239,150) had received both doses.
Of the 3,348,500 senior persons targeted, 80.3 percent (2,691,247) had gotten at least one dose, while 25.2 percent (844,633) had received a complete vaccination. Meanwhile, only around 65,835 persons have received their booster dosage.
In terms of gender dynamics, 52 percent of completely vaccinated people are women, while the remainder are males. 55 percent of women and 45 percent of men have received at least one dose of the vaccine. The elderly (those aged 50 and over) have been the most receptive to the government initiative (58 percent), followed by those aged 40-49 (53 percent), 30-39 (49 percent), and 18-29 (49 percent) (43 percent ). Only 1% of individuals aged 0-17 years have received all of their vaccines.
Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng, Uganda’s Minister of Health, said on April 27 that the nation has maintained minimal transmission of COVID-19 with a positive rate of less than 2% since February 2022.
This, according to Dr. Aceng, is due to the early decisive and continuous steps put in place to combat the spread of COVID-19, as well as the participation of all Ugandans in adhering to these efforts, including COVID-19 immunization.
She said that the only known COVID-19 patients on admission at the hospital at the time were two, one at Mulago National Referral Hospital and the other at St. Mary’s Hospital, Lacor in Gulu, northern Uganda. She said that both individuals had never been immunized.
Despite the gains and the impressive epidemiological picture in Uganda, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Committee of the International Health Regulations kept COVID-19 at the highest level of classification; a public health emergency of international concern declared in January 2020 and a pandemic declared on March 11, 2020. Aceng believes that, in addition to the growing transmission dynamics in southern African nations and portions of Asia, the worst is yet to come.
“As we continue to monitor the global picture, we remain on high alert for any possible flare-up of the pandemic; while maintaining the response pace until we are sure that the danger has been appropriately decreased,” she added.
Dr. Aceng called on health professionals, District Health Officers (DHOs), Resident City Commissioners (RCCs), Resident District Commissioners (RDCs), and city mayors to take the lead in the immunization campaign.
She said that it is their obligation to guarantee that the district-level vaccination exercise runs well, that all persons aged 18 and above get their doses, and that districts that have not used up their vaccinations are helped to do so.
She also said that health personnel should be reminded to follow a vaccination mix-and-match schedule based on vaccine availability. Individuals who have been six months since their previous COVID-19 vaccine should obtain a booster dose, according to Aceng.
“”While COVID-19 positive has decreased significantly, please be informed that the dangerous illness still remains among us,” Aceng stated. It is your obligation to have proper hygiene and to be vaccinated.”
Uganda has purchased 44 million doses of COVID-19 vaccinations to far, three million of which were purchased by the government. However, in order to adequately vaccinate all Ugandans, the government need 119 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Aceng claims that this will be enough to vaccinate everyone in the nation over the age of five.
Dr. Kyabayinze told The Independent that, in addition to working with regional partners to conduct mop-up vaccination exercises, the ministry is also collaborating with private health facilities to meet the needs of people who prefer to be vaccinated in health facilities that reflect their socioeconomic status.
“We will provide vaccinations in private health care facilities to assist those who do not want to queue. They may now be immunized at their leisure at health facilities “Kyabayinze said.
The Vaccine Advocacy Accelerator Project, according to Kenneth Mwehonge, executive director of HEPS-Uganda, aims to promote equitable access to COVID-19 vaccinations and ensuring that every Ugandan gets vaccinated.
Mwehonge told The Independent that the initiative would advocate for vaccine manufacturing waivers in order to enhance generic vaccine production, distribution, and availability.
“Historically, we’ve learnt that influenzas don’t go away; they tend to stick around, and vaccination is the greatest defense against them. As a result, this programme exists to assist the government in ensuring that all Ugandans are fully vaccinated.”
