Challenges, best practices, and lessons learned from oral cholera mass vaccination campaign in urban Cameroon during the COVID-19 era

Abstract

Background: Since 1971, Cameroon has been facing an ever-growing series of cholera epidemics; despite all the efforts made by the government to address this substantial public health problem. In 2020, in addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cameroon recorded a high cholera case fatality rate of 5.3% following epidemics noted in the South, Littoral, and South-West regions which is far higher than the 1% World Health Organization acceptable rate.

Methodology/principal findings: The Ministry of Public Health organized a reactive vaccination campaign against cholera to address the high mortality rate in the affected health districts. The first round was in August 2020 and the second in March 2021. We conducted a cross-sectional study and reviewed this vaccination campaign's challenges, best practices, and lessons. The vaccination coverage for the two doses of the oral cholera vaccine was 80.4%, with a refusal rate as high as 67%. People 20 years and above recorded the lowest vaccination coverage. The main challenge was misinformation about the cholera vaccine. The best practice was thorough population sensitization through community actors.

Conclusion: Proper communication will always brave the odds of hesitancy and favor mass population vaccination to thwart hesitancy and consolidate herd immunity.

Keywords: Best practices; COVID-19; Cameroon; Challenges; Lessons learned; Oral Cholera Vaccine.