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Ethiopia set to protect over 700,000 people from yellow fever
A yellow fever (YF) reactive vaccination campaign (RVC), aiming to protect over 700,000 people in 12 woredas/districts of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's (SNNP) & Oromia regions was launched on 23 October. The campaign was successfully launched by the Ethiopian Ministry of Health, with support from Eliminate Yellow Fever Epidemics (EYE) partners including Gavi, UNICEF and WHO. The acquisition of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) supplies such as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), needed for safe implementation, was provided through in-country resources – a great and essential contribution for implementation in the COVID-19 context.
The campaign was triggered by an outbreak of YF in March 2020 with a total of 85 suspected cases notified from 6 kebeles in Enor Ener Woreda, Gurage zone, SNNPR, of which 54 from Wedesha kebele. Among the total suspected cases, 6 samples were tested positive at the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) national laboratory and further referred to the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) for confirmation.
The country rapidly mounted a targeted reactive campaign in March protecting over 32,000 people in the affected and surrounding kebeles (12 in total), using in-country vaccines. The larger campaign was approved by the International Coordinating Group (ICG) for YF vaccine, with associated support from Gavi for vaccines and operational costs, however the implementation was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other competing activities.
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