 |
| Delta State, Nigeria preventive mass vaccination campaign launch, December 2020 |
|
Lessons learned from outbreak responses during the time of COVID-19
Since EYE’s launch in 2017, one of our goals is to deliver 1.4 billion doses of yellow fever vaccine (YF) within 10 years. Despite the challenges of COVID-19, high-risk countries have worked hard to continue to detect and prevent outbreaks, as well as protect millions of people from this deadly disease. In 2020, 6.8 million doses of vaccine were shipped to 6 countries in Africa in 2020 for outbreak response alone. These were Nigeria, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Uganda, Guinea and Senegal.
What have we learned from 2020? Firstly, that rapid responses using in-country vaccines contributed to outbreak control. Ethiopia made use of their travellers’ vaccine supply, and Nigeria accelerated planned preventive mass vaccination campaigns (PMVCs) for a targeted and immediate response in affected communities.
Sudan’s innovative approach in 2020 helped to reach refugees whilst conducting catch-up campaigns for children in host communities, and has helped to reduce inequities, with further plans to include displaced people as part of preventive immunization this month.
Natural disasters were an additional hurdle to overcome in the pursuit of protecting people from yellow fever. Floods in South Sudan posed serious logistical difficulties, but persistence and agility helped to ensure people were protected.
|
|
We have incorporated these learnings into our 2021 planning and strategic approaches, and with the global COVID-19 vaccination drive underway, look forward to being able to resume any postponed activities in the near future.
Ensuring continuity of YF activities during COVID-19
The COVID-19 vaccine roll-out is crucial for equitable protection and halting the pandemic, however we need to ensure continuity of YF vaccination to prevent outbreaks, such as we have seen in West Africa in
recent months. Additionally, with the current threat of Ebola in some of these countries, the populations of those territories are at higher risk.
The EYE partnership is maintaining an ongoing dialogue with countries on possible integration of vaccination activities.
In 2020, the integration of vaccination activities has helped to achieve enhanced health impact for people vaccinated and lowered operational costs. Nigeria achieved this, for example, by implementing yellow fever vaccinations with a Meningitis-A dual antigen campaign in Oyo and Anambra states.
|
|
|
| Yellow fever campaign training, White Nile state, Sudan, August 2020 |
|
|
|
Sudan
In March, Sudan started targeting, what it hopes will be, approximately 100,000 people, including refugees, in areas near the border with northern Ethiopia for a multi-antigen activity, that will include YF vaccination.
The country also plans to introduce YF into the routine immunization schedule for 2021. This is a remarkable achievement given the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out and other public health activities, including circulating vaccine derived polio virus type 2.
|
|
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
DRC is planning a number of preventive mass vaccination campaigns (PMVCs) in seven districts in the country. These campaigns aim to target over 18 million people in eight provinces, with an anticipated start date of 20th April 2021. |
|
|
| Emmanuel Igbu (right), one of the local government area facilitators, along with state worker Johnson Obihia, walk through a village to survey and speak with residents, such as Augustina Micheach, who sells vegetables in Delta State. Emmanuel wants to ensure the sellers have been immunized. © WHO / NOOR / Benedicte Kurzen |
|
|
In November 2020, positive YF samples were reported from five Nigerian states. WHO’s regional office for Africa developed a photo essay to showcase the response. Please click hereto read more about the Nigerian efforts, and how the EYE partners supported them.
|
|
|
Dr Erin Staples is a medical epidemiologist at the US CDC in the Arboviral Diseases Branch, Division of Vector-borne Diseases. She is responsible for a wide variety of arboviral diseases, focusing particularly on yellow fever, chikungunya, Zika, and tick-borne arboviral diseases.
She oversees the surveillance of domestic arboviral diseases and supervises Preventive Medicine Residents, Epidemic Intelligence Service Officers, and Epidemiologic |
|
|
Erin Staples, Medical Epidemiologist (US CDC)
Chair, EYE Risk Analysis Working Group (RAWG) |
|
|
Training Students who are training in epidemiology and public health. Her past work experience includes bacterial zoonotic diseases at the US CDC, vaccine development in industry, and clinical work in pediatric infectious diseases. Erin has both a medical degree and a doctoral degree in microbiology and immunology, and she has published on a variety of scientific subjects.
Erin is the lead of the RAWG for the EYE Partnership, which helps to ensure there are robust risk protocols and measures in place for early detection and mitigation of yellow fever outbreaks. Under Erin’s leadership, the RAWG has finalized the YF national risk analysis tool, initiated work on sub-national YF risk analysis, and provided support to EYE high-risk country applications to Gavi.
|
|
|
The Public Library of Science journal, PLOS Medicine has published research on assessing the impact of PMVCs on YF outbreaks in Africa, with new empirical evidence showing their impact on yellow fever outbreaks. To read more, click here. Disclaimer: this research has not been peer reviewed by EYE, however, its peer review history can be found here.
|
|
|
We encourage you to follow our social media accounts, which can be found at the bottom of the newsletter, where we will be posting EYE and yellow fever specific content for World Immunization Week (24th and 30th April 2021). We encourage you to share our posts.
For more information on this campaign, please visit World Immunization Week 2021 (who.int), which will be updated periodically with new information.
|
|
|
Deadline for Gavi application submission round 2: 4th May 2021
IRC meeting (indicative dates): 28th June to 9th July 2021
Deadline for Gavi application submission round 3: 15th September 2021
IRC meeting (indicative dates): 8th to 19th Nov 2021
|
|
|
We would love to showcase the work you are doing on protecting people from yellow fever. To submit your news, stories, photos and videos, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
|
|
To subscribe to this newsletter, click here.
Follow us on social media. Click on the icons below.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
