By Ben Musanje
30th May 2023
The Ministry of Health has allocated at least 13.4 million doses of Yellow Fever vaccines to facilitate the first phase of preventive mass vaccination campaign next month.
According to the ministry, the first phase of the three phased exercise, will target 51 districts in the Lango, Acholi, Rwenzori, Ankole, West Nile, and Bunyoro sub-regions and will be conducted from June 9 -13, 2023.
Dr Diana Atwine, the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Health while opening a media orientation meeting in Kampala ahead of the vaccination campaign, says that the exercise is targeting the age group of persons aged 9 month up to 60 years and will run up to next year.
Atwine adds that the campaign will be launched on June 8, 2022 in Lira City which is one of the most prone districts and they expect the campaign to cost Shs28 billions and those that have ever received a jab upon their travels are not required to get another one.
The first phase will happen in June this year and the second phase in October 2023 while the last vaccination phase will be conducted in October 2024.
Emmanuel Ainebyoona, the Senior Public Relations Officer at the Ministry of Health said that the vaccines are free of charge and will be conducted voluntarily at door to door.
Uganda National Expanded Program on Immunization (UNEPI) says that Uganda is currently classified as a yellow fever endemic high-risk country by the World Health Organization though it still has a low immunity population.
Yellow fever is a vector-borne illness caused by a flavi virus which is spread through mosquito bites and experts say symptoms of yellow fever take three to six days to develop and include fever, chills, and headache, backache, and muscle aches.
It is estimated that about 15% of people who get yellow fever develop serious illnesses that can lead to bleeding, shock, organ failure, and sometimes death.
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