In a bid to combat the ongoing cholera crisis, Zimbabwe initiated a door-to-door vaccination campaign on Monday, aiming to immunize more than 2 million individuals. The initiative is particularly crucial in densely populated urban areas with inadequate sanitation facilities.
As of January 24, the waterborne disease has claimed 452 lives and infected a total of 20,446 people in the southern African nation. Zimbabwe has been grappling with the cholera outbreak since February of the preceding year, with reports indicating that half of the cases involve children, according to the health ministry.
The country has secured 2.3 million vaccine doses from UNICEF, with 892,000 doses already dispatched. The vaccination effort relies on the Euvichol-Plus vaccine, manufactured by EuBiologics (206650.KQ). Administered orally, this vaccine provides at least six months of protection against cholera infections.
Furthermore, the World Health Organization (WHO) will deploy teams to 29 severely affected districts to support the vaccination campaign.
In response to the surge in cases, the Zimbabwean government implemented measures in November to restrict public gatherings, regulate food vendors, and manage burials in cholera-affected districts. Health Minister Douglas Mombeshora confirmed that the vaccines procured are the same ones used during the cholera outbreaks in 2018 and 2020.
