Donors making a difference: Knocking down obstacles to COVID-19 vaccination

People wait for their COVID-19 vaccinations at a shopping mall in Luanda, Angola. ©WHOWHO and partners are redoubling efforts to give everyone the opportunity to get vaccinated for COVID-19, reaching into communities with poor access and fighting misinformation with facts about vaccine safety and efficacy.In Lesotho, teachers and school board members are taking special courses to help them promote vaccination among students, while in Kenya and other countries, health workers are taking their vaccination campaigns to homes and hard-to-reach groups such as the elderly and people living with disabilities.Africa and the Caribbean have undertaken broader efforts to target geographies with lagging vaccination rates.A new grant of US$ 16 million from ECHO (the European Union Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations) will support efforts in 15 African countries.

Vaccine coverage remains low on the continent, with about 13% of the population fully vaccinated.“The support by the European Union injects a crucial momentum into the drive to reach this year’s 70% target vaccination amongst the population and protect them from the adverse impacts of this virus,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.Read more about work that WHO donors help to support:In Lesotho, educators train to fight misinformation and boost vaccine uptakeTeachers and school board members at a COVID-19 awareness workshop at Kolojane Primary School, Lesotho. ©WHOIn Lesotho, COVID-19 vaccination among adolescents is up following a series of WHO-supported workshops that help local educators become advocates for immunization.The workshops are teaching participants to tackle vaccine hesitancy and promote