In October 2021, a workshop was organized and facilitated by the medical region of Dakar, with support from MTaPS, with the heads of all 12 health districts of Dakar. During this workshop, a microplan template was adopted by all participants. The template provided for planning activities related to decentralized service provision strategies (e.g., providing vaccines in a health center, reaching individual patients directly, using a mobile clinic for zones without a health center); data, waste, and adverse events following immunization management; strengthening the capacity of service providers; and communications around risks and community engagement.
Following the adoption of the microplan template and to jumpstart the COVID-19 vaccination, the Ministry of Health and Social Action’s PEV requested nationwide development of microplans in all medical regions and health districts.
Ms. Mame Diarra Diagne Ndour, Dakar’s regional vaccination focal point, indicates: “Thanks to the funding and technical support to develop the microplans with the districts, we were able to standardize our interventions and prioritize our activities. This facilitated the coordination and monitoring of activity implementation.”
Additionally, MTaPS provided field support to develop terms of reference; supervise the campaigns; and guide health professionals to organize mass vaccination campaigns designed to vaccinate as many people as possible in three to seven days, which is a priority service provision strategy included in the microplans. These mass vaccination days held across all Dakar districts enabled 12,889 people to be vaccinated between September and December 2021.
“Many people got infected lately, myself included. It is our responsibility, as citizens, to stand in the way of this disease and this includes getting […] vaccinated. […] This for me is a call for everyone to be responsible and to make this investment at his or her personal level to contain the virus,” shared Mr. Axel MBoko, a geologist and project manager in water, health, and sanitation.
For Ms. Kine Willane, an entrepreneur living in Dakar, COVID-19 vaccination needs to be included in the long list of public health combats: “We were lucky to avoid diseases such as measles, yellow fever, or whooping cough thanks to our mothers who got us vaccinated. The least we can do is to do like our mothers and protect our loved ones by getting vaccinated.”
To increase vaccination coverage in the country, MTaPS continues to support the Ministry by helping implement the COVID-19 vaccination microplans at the central and operational levels.
