Africa’s largest-ever vaccination drive is well under way. Forty-nine African countries are rolling out COVID-19 vaccines and over 22 million doses have been given on the continent. Valuable lessons are emerging, but major risks and challenges threaten Africa’s fragile gains.

1. LeveraginglessonsfromAfrica’sCOVID-19vaccine rollout
03 July2021
From exemplarymass-vaccinationstationsinAngola,tocomplexcold-chainlogisticsinRwandaand
model communicationstoboosttrustin vaccinesinGhana,the World Health Organization(WHO) is
documentingkeylessonsemergingfromAfrica’srolloutof COVID-19vaccines.
The VaccinesLearningAgendateamare buildingadynamicdatabase of valuable informationfor
Africancountries,andare setto create case studiesona range positive vaccine experiencesand
overcomingrisksandchallenges.Sofar,eightAfricancountrieshave sharedexperiencesinregional
webinarstoshare knowledgeandbest-practicesacrossborders.
“As Africagearsup forthe nextwave of COVID-19vaccine shipments,the learningagendatoolsand
exchangeswillhelpcountriesshare whatworksandwhy,aswell asdocumentingcrucial lessonsfor
the future.We’re urgingall AfricanHealthMinistriestoshare theirexperiences,whetherthey
workedor not,with the ultimate aimof savingmore Africanlives,”saysLearningAgendateamlead
ChandaChikwanda.
The beneficial lessonsidentifiedsofarare categorizedintofourareas.Theyare earlyplanning,
deliveringvaccinesacrossthe life-course,digitalplatformsandriskcommunicationsstrategies.Key
earlychallengesincludethe disruptionof routine immunization,hesitancytogetthe vaccine among
healthworkersandcommunitiesandidentifyingprioritypopulationsforvaccination.
An electronicdatacapture formanda dynamicdatabase have beendevelopedtohelpcollectand
consolidate lessonsandbestpracticesfromspecificgroups,andanopenaccess microsite isalso
beingdevelopedtodisseminate intermediate lessonsandbestpracticesmore broadly.