Going Anywhere and Everywhere to Reach People

"Our team went anywhere and everywhere to reach people" - Lusaka Province increases vaccination rates by 17 percent after 2-week drive led by Zambia Ministry of Health, USAID, and other partners.

Hundreds of students gathered at Chawama Grounds in Lusaka to join the kick-off activities for the Lusaka Province COVID-19 Vaccination Drive in July. A partnership between Zambia Ministry of Health, USAID, and other partners, the vaccination drive marked the start of a two-week push to increase vaccination rates throughout Lusaka Province, which, at the start of the campaign, had the lowest vaccination rate in the country. 

The event featured cultural dancing and free health services/screenings including COVID-19 vaccinations. Speaking during the event, the Permanent Secretary for Lusaka Province, Mr. Robert Kamalata, encouraged all eligible individuals to get their COVID-19 vaccine if they hadn’t done so already. 

“With this kick-off event, we wanted to create excitement around the vaccine drive so that students would start talking with their friends and family about the vaccine,” said Musonda Musonda speaking on behalf of USAID/Zambia’s Health Office. “We also made sure we had a number of community mobilizers and health workers at the event to answer questions and provide accurate information about the COVID-19 vaccine.”

Lusaka Province is Zambia’s most populous region and in this area a commonly stated barrier to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine is the added stress and complication of taking time off work and missing out on earnings. Additional barriers such as the availability of childcare, travel expenses, and misinformation have also contributed to the province’s low vaccination rates. 

By using a proven and successful formula developed by the USAID DISCOVER-Health project, other areas of Zambia including Central, Copperbelt, and Northwestern provinces have seen success in the uptake of vaccine which is supporting the Zambian government’s work to address the global COVID-19 pandemic. The approach is based on harnessing the various levels of leadership in communities to increase access to correct information, dispelling misconceptions and misinformation surrounding the vaccine, and mobilizing the community to increase uptake of COVID-19 vaccinations. 

Another key aspect leading to the successful formula is the engagement of local and community leaders including political, religious, and civic leaders, such as ward councilors, and reaching out to mainstream media reporters, sports personalities, musicians, teachers, and market managers. Importantly, these leaders are trusted sources of information for the members of the community. As a result of USAID’s support, Zambia’s Central and Copperbelt provinces have exceeded the national target of 70 percent of their eligible population being fully vaccinated. USAID’s support in  Northwestern Province, has resulted in 65 percent of the province’s eligible population being fully vaccinated. 

For the drive to be successful in Lusaka Province and ultimately contribute to Zambia’s goal of vaccinating 70 percent of its eligible population, the USAID DISCOVER-Health team knew they had to take the vaccine directly to the residents of Lusaka. Before the vaccine drive, the team mapped out the busiest churches, malls, markets, and workplaces in Lusaka Province to better understand where the community mobilizers would need to go to reach the most people and encourage Lusaka residents to get vaccinated.

“Our team went anywhere and everywhere to reach people in Lusaka province during the drive,” said Dr. Mutinta Nyumbu, USAID DISCOVER-Health’s Deputy Project Director. “Our high-level community mobilizers included bus drivers and market managers. This way, while people are running their errands, they could also get the COVID-19 vaccine.”

The USAID DISCOVER-Health team strategically placed vaccination services in convenient locations throughout the province - taking the vaccine directly to the people. For example, at Sonshine School, which provides nursery, primary, and secondary education in Lusaka’s Olympia Park community, a vaccination booth for eligible students, aged 12 and over, and community members was placed at the entryway to the school. This way, vaccinations were made more accessible to student’s parents and caregivers as they dropped-off or picked up their child from school.

The two-week vaccination drive in Lusaka Province took place during July 26 - August 5, 2022, and helped to increase the fully vaccinated rate by nearly 17 percent with nearly 500,000 total doses administered - an impressive feat given the population density of Lusaka. Zambia is 1 of 11 countries designated by Global VAX, a whole-of-U.S. government initiative to contribute to the global goal of vaccinating 70 percent of the population against COVID-19 in 2022.