Harnessing influence: accelerating COVID-19 vaccination in Zambia through engagement and involvement of local leaders

Title

Harnessing influence: accelerating COVID-19 vaccination in Zambia through engagement and involvement of local leaders

Presenter

Pule Mundende

Authors

P. Mundende * (1), B. Simpasa (1), S. Habbanti (1), N. Liywalii (1), S. Ndebele (1), S. Sampa (1), M. Njelesani (1), M. Nyumbu (1), M. Musonda (2), M. Chikuba-McLeod (1)

Institutions

(1) JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. (JSI), Lusaka, Zambia, (2) United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Zambia Mission, Lusaka, Zambia

BACKGROUND: The USAID DISCOVER-Health Project, implemented by JSI Research & Training Institute Inc. (JSI), supports the Ministry of Health (MOH) to increase demand and uptake for COVID-19 vaccines. In December 2021, the Project supported MOH with a national COVID-19 Vaccination Drive harnessing local civic, traditional and religious leadership. These trusted custodians of Zambian society are well placed to encourage their people to make the safe and smart choice to get vaccinated.
DESCRIPTION:

The Project supported the campaign in the Copperbelt and Central provinces in all 22 districts and it involved:

Engagement and involvement of leaders to reassure beneficiaries of their support for vaccines, with outreach service delivery (door-to-door, schools, workplaces and other congregate settings) to reach beneficiaries within their communities.
User-informed targeted Risk Communication Community Engagement (RCCE), especially interpersonal communication (IPC), through community mobilisers and fully-oriented leaders.
Sensitisation with members of the media to equip them to share timely and accurate information, and to facilitate provision of radio/TV platforms for leaders to promote vaccination.
Human resource for health (HRH) and logistical support to ensure availability of HR and other resources required for effective service delivery, including outreach vaccination services.

As a result of the Project's support to the campaign, 216,480 people were vaccinated against COVID-19 in Copperbelt and Central provinces during December 2021. The two provinces (out of the 10 provinces ) contributed 31% to the total national December Drive achievement of 701,000. Copperbelt Province is the best performing province in the country, recording the highest vaccination coverage.
LESSONS LEARNED: Harnessing the influence of respected civic, traditional, religious and other leaders, in addition to taking COVID-19 vaccination services door-to-door and in congregate settings close to where people live, decreases barriers to vaccine access and significantly increases uptake.
CONCLUSIONS: Ensuring all components of the vaccination cascade were supported, equipping leaders with accurate information to support COVID-19 vaccination and expanding access to vaccines through outreach services enabled more people in Copperbelt and Central Province to get vaccinated. This model can be used to effectively scale-up COVID-19 vaccination in Zambia.

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