Uganda: MSF helps vaccinate quarter of a million over-50s against COVID-19

Eighty per cent of over-50s in Uganda’s Kasese district have now received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine thanks to a Ministry of Health vaccination campaign supported by teams from Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF). A total of 252,000 people across the province were vaccinated between December 2021 and February 2022. In addition, more than 3,000 clinically vulnerable people with co-morbidities were vaccinated at Arua hospital.

In May 2021, MSF teams launched an emergency response to COVID-19 in the locations in Uganda where they were already working after large numbers of infections and deaths caused by the Delta variant. Initially they focused on setting up treatment centres, organising logistics (including managing oxygen supplies), training health staff in infection prevention and control, and providing patient care in Kasese district in the southwest, Arua in the northwest, and Entebbe regional hospital, 40 km from the capital.

COVID-19 vaccines were not widely available in Uganda until the end of 2021. "By December, only 3% of the population had access to the vaccine, even though there was a high demand for it,” says Christopher Mambula, MSF medical advisor. “When the Ministry of Health announced that they had received many vaccines to be used quickly, we decided to respond and help them finance and organise this vaccination campaign. For COVID-19 vaccinations, we believe it is necessary to be as close as possible to the local context and to adapt the response according to it."

The first round of vaccinations took place over a week in December at 220 sites, with teams vaccinating 1,100 people from 872 villages. This was followed by another round in February to administer second doses.

"It was very challenging, particularly because the vaccines were of different brands, which had an impact on patient follow-up, especially for the time between two round of vaccinations,” says Théo Wanteu, MSF's head of mission. “Respecting the cold chain was also a real challenge, especially when travelling to remote and hard-to-reach villages perched on the slopes of the Rwenzor mountains."

A total of 252,000 people in Kasese district received vaccinations, representing 80 per cent of over-50s (the age group most at risk of developing complications from the disease) and 63 per cent of over-18s.

Meanwhile, two vaccination sites were set up at Arua hospital, where teams vaccinated more than 3,000 patients with co-morbidities including HIV, tuberculosis and chronic diseases.