Ebola vaccination kicked off yesterday in Sierra Leone in a proactive public health move to “protect people at high risk of infection in case of any potential cross-border transmission of the disease from the ongoing outbreak in neighboring Guinea, according to the World Health Organisation.
The vaccination campaign was launched in Kambia district, which borders Guinea And is a major international point of entry by road.
It will continue in eight other districts that share border with Guinea.
No case of the current Ebola virus outbreak in Guinea has been confirmed in Sierra Leone but health authorities in the country “are ensuring that frontline health workers” get the jab, according to a WHO press release.
They include those in health facilities “where people who may be infected with Ebola would first present themselves for care, traditional healers widely consulted by community members for traditional medicines and commercial motor bikers providing transportation services along the border districts, and regional referral hospitals”
The Ministry of Health and Sanitation is leading the exercise to administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccines with technical, logistical and operational support from the WHO on compassionate grounds or emergency situations.
The Ebola vaccines were donated to Sierra Leone in April 2021 through the partnership between WHO and the vaccine manufacturer Johnson & Johnson.
“The joint effort by partners with the strong leadership of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation is clearly a strategic step towards ensuring health security in Sierra Leone” said Dr Steven Velabo Shongwe, WHO Representative in Sierra Loene.
A total of 16, 000 people in the selected target groups will receive the two doses of the vaccine given approximately eight weeks apart.
On 7 April this year, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation launched a comprehensive six months Ebola Outbreak Preparedness and Contingency Plan to guide the country’s heightened preparedness and readiness activities. Preventive vaccination of a selected target groups is one of the strategic priority interventions highlighted in the Plan.
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