Another successful vaccine outreach campaign here in Bulungula! 94% of our over 60 community members, who were the first to take the Pfizer vaccine, have returned for their second dose, and are now fully vaccinated. Even though the local vaccination outreach sites are more accessible, we still provided transport for our elderly community members to ensure they could safely get to and from the locations.
For our over 35 community members, we were able to secure and offer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. While setting up vaccination outreach sites are essential for access in our rural areas, it is no easy task. As an organisation, we shift our focus entirely— working hard to communicate the campaign before, assist in pre-registration, and safely organise and run the event with the Department of Health. The provision of a single-dose vaccine is much more feasible to protect as many of our community members as we can.
The last month we have been able to stave off the third wave of COVID, but unfortunately this week it has arrived in our community. We feel safer knowing that our most vulnerable community members are vaccinated, and unlikely to get sick or need to go to the hospital for severe symptoms, nevertheless, we will continue to screen, test, and support the situation as best as we can.
