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Somalia achieves historic landmark in its fight against COVID-19: 30% of eligible population now fully vaccinated
Outreach vaccination team in action at IDP camp in Baidoa, 8 October 2022Mogadishu, 11 October 2022 – Amid multiple outbreaks in the country, Somalia with support of WHO, UNICEF, donors and other partners have achieved another landmark in its fight for ending the COVID-19 pandemic. The country reached its target vaccinating 30% of its population fully against COVID-19 disease on 8 October 2022. The country is now well poised to achieve its target of fully vaccinating 40% of the target population by the end of the current year.
At the start of the year, Somalia had reported just 5% of its population as fully vaccinated, but with persistent efforts, an innovative approach, and eventually through a number of accelerated COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, the last of which has been ongoing since 6 September 2022 across the country, this milestone was achieved.
The target for the ongoing accelerated campaign is to administer 3.5 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine to its vulnerable population, which will eventually help increase the fully vaccinated percentage to around 37% by the end of the current accelerated campaign scheduled to end on the 20 October 2022. WHO has deployed 5000 outreach teams comprising of 30 600 individuals who will be working for a month to manage this accelerated campaign Special strategies have been planned for November and December of this year to help achieve the promised target of fully vaccinating 40% of population in Somalia against COVID-19.
In the lead up to this campaign, WHO Somalia helped the federal and state ministries undertake a rigorous microplanning exercise to ensure all eligible and high-risk populations living in marginalized communities are reached and receive a COVID-19 vaccine, irrespective of their geographic location.
Somalia, with the support of WHO, UNICEF and other partner donors have administered around 7 million of doses of COVID-19 vaccines thus far in a country of approximately 15 million people. Careful planning, robust, responsive, and targeted approach has resulted in fully vaccinating 30% of its population and partially vaccinating another 14% of its people. Data reveal that the vaccinated population includes 49% of females and 1 660 940 internally displaced persons (IDPs). The use of digital technology and electronic registration system for COVID-19 immunization roll out programme in Somalia has enabled the country to identify, track and register all eligible people and record their vaccination status in real-time.
“I express my profound gratitude to the government, donors, partners, and especially the front-line health workers who have shown courage and determination for achieving this historic milestone amid multiple ongoing emergencies in the country and that too by reaching out to people who are living in extremely hard-to-reach areas. Our staff are certainly over-stretched owing to the fact that they are responding to multiple emergencies ad making sure that our each and every health action contribute to saving lives, but this achievement testifies the fact that WHO’s work in Somalia is safeguarding and protecting the vulnerable Somali populations living in some of the worst, life-threatening and challenging environments. We have integrated this COVID-19 vaccination programme with routine immunization as the investment on the roll out of COVID-19 vaccines is also helping us to identify and vaccinate children who are missing out on routine immunization owing to various access-related issues,” said Dr Mamunur Malik, WHO Representative in Somalia.
The launch of the COVID-19 vaccination programme in the country has brought about additional benefits as it is contributing positively to rebuilding the health system such as developing and strengthening a strong immunization system which is also essential for routine immunization. This has also helped establishing a surveillance system for adverse events reporting and monitoring as well as identifying “zero dose” children using innovation and digital technology. This way, the country is progressing towards achieving universal health coverage.
For additional information, please contact:
Kyle DeFreitas
WHO Somalia External Relations Lead
Fouzia Bano
WHO Communications Officer
Related links
COVID-19 Information note 22: turning COVID-19 vaccine doses into vaccinated people
COVID-19 information note 20: Accelerated immunization campaign for COVID-19 and childhood vaccines
COVID-19 information note 16: Accelerated-immunization campaign-for-COVID-19 and childhood vaccines in Somalia
ECHO and WHO deliver essential and life-saving medical supplies to meet emergency health needs of drought-affected communities
Since 2020, the EU and ECHO have provided continuous support to WHO emergency response activities, including by airlifting vital medical equipment and supplies across Somalia, including during the COVID-19 lockdown Mogadishu, 24 September 2022 – The World Health Organization (WHO) country office for Somalia has launched a €1 000 000 project, which aims to deliver crucial emergency health supplies and essential medicines to drought-affected populations across Somalia in support of the organization’s ongoing life-saving essential health interventions. This project is funded by the European Union’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Operation.
Through this support, the federal and state ministries of health and WHO will provide integrated life-saving health services to drought-affected people at the community level through the outreach services, as well as through primary health centres. Part of these supplies will also be used to support critical care for severe pneumonia, diarrhoeal diseases, as well as for other medical conditions that might be needed to be treated at the secondary health facility level. These supplies will also help Somalia mount an appropriate response to disease outbreaks caused by the drought, including cholera and measles. Provisions being delivered will include medical kits to address cholera and severe acute malnutrition with medical complications, as well as other emergency medical equipment and items from WHO’s catalogue of prequalified supplies. The consignments will also comprise laboratory testing kits and reagents, in addition to 59 different kinds of basic and supplementary medicines, among other items.
Supplies procured by WHO through this EU contribution will be delivered to WHO warehouses located in Mogadishu, Garowe, and Hargeisa, after which they will be handed over to the Government or partners at health facility level to provide life-saving services to vulnerable populations. The district health information system (DHIS2), alongside the early warning alert and response network (EWARN) surveillance system, will store information on supplies that are received and used at state level
The interventions will deliver life-saving resources to the most vulnerable populations living in different states of the country, including communities that have had their immunity lowered due to the ongoing drought, which makes it easier for them to get infected with diseases. Credit: Somalia/Arete The project will directly benefit over 740 000 drought-affected people, around half of whom are women. Direct beneficiaries also include people displaced by drought living in camps for internally displaced persons, as well as host communities in drought-affected districts. The project will also target people living with disabilities, people with little or no access to health services, and people living in areas where epidemic-prone diseases are highly prevalent. The interventions will address the needs of drought-affected communities living in the Banadir region and districts in Galmudug state, Hirshabelle state, Jubaland state, Puntland, Somaliland, and Southwest state.
“Somalis are no strangers to droughts, but what the country confronts now is unprecedented and demands our best collective effort. The reported number of acute watery diarrhoea/suspected cholera cases is way over doubling that of last year; for measles, the reported cases this year are more than four times that of 2021. Children under the age of 5 are those most likely to die in the absence of medical and nutritional support,” said Javier Rio Navarro, Head of the EU Humanitarian Office for Somalia. “Through this support, part of the EU humanitarian contribution of over € 61 million in 2022, health facilities and humanitarian staff in hardest hit locations will be better equipped to continue their lifesaving efforts.”
“We have said it before, and we are saying in again – the current food security crisis is also a health crisis. When people are starving, and in hunger, their basic immunity goes down. As a result, they become more vulnerable to diseases. These people affected by the drought are from marginalized communities, they were living in very tough conditions and had limited access to health, immunization, and other basic services even before this drought. By partnering with ECHO, we will provide essential medical supplies to meet critical healthcare needs of these and more vulnerable groups and protect their health. Through improving access to health care for these marginalized group, we are certain that many deaths will be averted, many diseases will be prevented,” said Dr Mamunur Rahman Malik, WHO Representative to Somalia and Head of Mission.
These life-saving resources complement Somalia's Essential Package of Health Service (EPHS), 2020, which aims to offer the most basic essential services, and supplementary services where possible, to every person no matter where they live.
In November 2021, the Federal Government of Somalia declared a state of emergency over the ongoing drought. As a result of the drought, around 7.7 million people are currently in need of humanitarian assistance and protection, and one million people have been displaced. Between January and September 2022, Somalia’s EWARN system reported spikes in epidemic-prone diseases, such as acute diarrhoea, cholera and other waterborne diseases. Additionally, cases of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, increased by 20% during this period.
The current support of ECHO for WHO’s ongoing life-saving interventions is expected to help avert an additional 8106 new cases of cholera; 64 393 cases of acute diarrhoea; 30 000 cases of measles; 8464 cases of severe acute malnutrition with medical complications; and 10 000 cases of severe acute respiratory infections in the drought-affected communities by way of scaling up and delivering the life-saving health interventions to these communities at places where they are . Using lessons learnt from the 2016–2017 drought in Somalia, these intensive and urgent life-saving interventions rolled out by WHO, in close collaboration with federal and state health ministries, ECHO, other partners as well as the clusters for health, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and nutrition, will cushion communities from the effects of drought.
For additional information, please contact:
EU Humanitarian Aid: Mathias Eick,
Kyle DeFreitas, WHO Somalia External Relations Lead,
Fouzia Bano, WHO Chief of Staff ai, Communications Officer,
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Note to editors
Please see the links below for additional information on recent support received from the European Union Delegation to Somalia:
EU-WHO Newsletter 2021: *|MC:MC_MC_SUBJECT|* (campaign-archive.com)
Somalia receives 1.6 million J&J COVID-19 vaccine doses from Sweden and the Czech Republic
Credit: WHO/Somalia28 August 2022, Mogadishu – On 27 August 2022, Somalia received 1 645 600 doses of the Johnson and Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccines from the Government of Sweden and the Government of the Czech Republic. The vaccines were donated by both countries through the COVAX Facility. So far, around 2.3 million people have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and over 1.9 million people partially vaccinated.
On this occasion, HE Dr Ali Haji Adam Abubakar, the Minister of Health and Human Services of the Federal Government of Somalia said, “We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Government of Sweden and the Czech Republic for supporting us to protect Somalis against COVID-19. The vaccines we have received will indeed save lives, enable us to create more equity between Somalis of different backgrounds, and contribute to our national health goals to ensure we leave no one behind. This is even more important now as the country faces a severe drought and mass displacement, leaving more people vulnerable to diseases.”
The ongoing drought has brought the country to the brink of famine, and left 7.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and protection, and around 1 million people internally displaced.
“I am very proud that Sweden has yet again proved to be standing in solidarity with the people of Somalia to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The 1 360 800 doses donated by the Swedish Government now will go a long way in helping Somalia getting more people vaccinated. In addition to the vaccine donation through COVAX, Sweden also has a long-term commitment and support to the health sector in Somalia, including financial support for health systems strengthening channeled through WHO, UNICEF, the United Nations Population Fund and Save the Children”, says the Swedish Ambassador to Somalia, Mr Per Lindgärde.
Credit: WHO/SomaliaDr Mamunur Rahman Malik, WHO Representative to Somalia said, “Overall, 15% of Somalia’s population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 so far and 12% are partially vaccinated. Together with the Government, donors and other partners, we have used creative ways and impactful innovations to reach the most vulnerable people, prevent further spread of COVID-19 and leverage on these efforts to rebuild health systems. However, we still have a long way to go. Somalia’s aim is to vaccinate at least 40% of people by the end of 2022.”
“Somalia has made tangible progress in procuring safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines. UNICEF continues to work closely with the Government and partners to ensure communities are aware on the benefits of being vaccinated,” says Wafaa Saeed, UNICEF Somalia Representative. “The humanitarian situation calls for urgent measures to scale up COVID-19 vaccination and other lifesaving humanitarian assistance, especially for internally displaced persons, rural communities and nomads.”
Some of the challenges slowing down COVID-19 vaccination in Somalia include limited access to specific areas due to insecurity or logistical challenges.
For additional information, please contact:
Khadar Hussein Mohamud
Head of Coordination and Communications
Ministry of Health, Federal Government of Somalia
Mukhtar Abdi Shube
Head of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) section
Ministry of Health
Federal Government of Somalia
Fouzia Bano
Communications Officer
WHO Somalia
Lisa Hill
Communications Specialist
UNICEF Somalia
Teamwork at all levels of WHO aims to save millions of lives in the greater Horn of Africa
WHO is working to reach children with vital vaccinations. Around 7 million under-5s are acutely malnourished and have low immunity in the region. Credit: WHO Somalia28 August 2022 – In the greater Horn of Africa, famine is looming at the doorstep of many households. Over 80 million people in this region — which comprises Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda — lack access to food that would meet their basic needs along with safe water. More than 37 million of these people have reached crossroads in their lives where they have had to sell their possessions to feed themselves and their families.
In this dire situation, the risk of morbidity and mortality due to outbreak-prone diseases comes in tandem with forced displacement. This is set against a backdrop of limited access to essential and primary health care interventions across the entire region. Each day, the most vulnerable populations, including children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and displaced people, are facing growing threats of being infected with communicable diseases.
Outbreaks in the Region
The drought has exacerbated disease outbreaks in the Horn of Africa, a region that is constantly facing other emergencies, including the COVID-19 pandemic currently. Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda are experiencing measles outbreaks, while Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan are witnessing cholera outbreaks.
WHO has supported nutrition stabilization centres to save the lives of children with severe acute malnutrition with medical complications. Credit: WHO/SomaliaThe countries also have high rates of severe acute malnutrition among children under 5 years old, all of which increase the risk of morbidity and mortality among displaced and vulnerable populations. Unless a coordinated response effort is implemented, health risks will keep escalating and spreading within and beyond the region.
Charting out plans for stronger collaboration
To continue to deter these severe health consequences of the drought in a coordinated manner in the greater Horn of Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) convened a meeting from 26 to 27 June 2022 in Nairobi, Kenya, for the organization’s senior specialists and officials. These experts included Dr Ibrahima Socé Fall, WHO Assistant Director-General for Emergency Response, the WHO Representatives from the 7 countries of the region, and other technical expertise.
The participants set out to brainstorm ways to mount a stronger and coherent health response. They considered joint measures to improve primary health care interventions, including in the delivery of essential health services, nutrition support and immunization, communication and resource mobilization, and regional, inter-agency, and partner coordination. They also discussed the alignment of response plans, and health intelligence and information products and systems. After finalizing the Contingency Fund for Emergencies, an emergency fund run by WHO, the country teams also agreed on a series of next steps to take to advance recommended action.
Coordinating information management in the Region
Dr Mamunur Rahman Malik, WHO Representative to Somalia, Dr Ibrahima Soce Fall, WHO Assistant Director-General for Emergency Response, and Mr Altaf Musani, WHO Director of Emergency Health Interventions, at a Greater Horn of Africa drought response meeting, Nairobi. Credit: WHO/SomaliaAs next steps, the information management teams from all 7 countries, and representatives from the WHO Regional Office for Africa, Regional Offfice for the Eastern Mediterranean and headquarters convened a meeting in Kenya from 25 to 27 July 2022. The team aimed to understand and document the information and data landscape across the region. They also discussed ways to enhance coordination using 4 health information management pathways – products, processes, people and tools – and the need for monitoring and evaluation, including on indicators related to nutrition, which is closely linked to health, and primary health care.
Following an analysis of all the different information collection tools and siloed, donor-driven individual disease management systems in the 7 countries, the participants agreed on the need to integrate health information management assets in the countries into a single cohesive integrated system.
In conclusion, the team agreed to create a joint situation report every month – that combines an epidemiological bulletin, known as the EPI watch, and a visually appealing infographic on the drought situation. They also agreed to create a general dashboard that shows drought response activities for each of the 7 countries. It will present information on malaria activities, cholera, interventions by community health workers, outreach interventions, and severe acute malnutrition stabilization centres in drought-affected areas.
Regional and country appeals for support
To scale up the response to the situation in the greater Horn of Africa, on 2 August 2022, WHO launched an appeal for US$ 123.7 million. The response will focus on 5 pillars: coordination and collaboration; surveillance and information; outbreak prevention and control; essential nutrition actions; and essential health services.
In Somalia, WHO launched an emergency health response plan for the ongoing drought in May 2022. With an ask of US$ 35 million until the end of 2022, the plan aims to strengthen disease surveillance, integrate nutrition programmes horizontally into health service delivery, and ensure adequate coverage levels of measles and polio vaccination, including vitamin A and deworming. Additionally, the plan will ensure the delivery of essential package of health services with nutrition and mental health and psychosocial support integrated in activities. To cater for the needs of young children and women, the response would also address integrated management of childhood illnesses and reproductive health.
“Since early last year, in Somalia, our urgent attention has focused on anticipating and averting severe health consequences of drought. We advocated for early action for the drought response to avoid regret, and for flexible and urgent funding to support our efforts. Since then, we have left no stone unturned to work towards preventing avoidable morbidity and mortality linked to epidemic-prone diseases, caused by limited access to safe water, food, proper sanitation and hygiene. In many ways, we have managed to avert large-scale losses of life, but even one life lost is too many,” said Dr Mamunur Rahman Malik, WHO Representative to Somalia.
Partnerships at WHO levels and with donors saving lives
Commenting on the extraordinary efforts to improve partnerships within WHO, Dr Malik, the WHO Somalia Head of Mission said, “Across the greater Horn of Africa, WHO is ramping up its response, improving coordination, and streamlining existing efforts and optimizing on resources to ensure we reach more people with life-saving support. With one million displaced Somalis, we have one million and more reasons to redouble our efforts and extend additional support to affected families.”
He added that the support from partners such as the European Union (EU) Delegation to Somalia, European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations of Somalia, donors contributing to the Contingency Fund for Emergencies, and Gavi - the Vaccine Alliance, WHO has already been able to impact the lives of some of the hardest hit people.
For additional information on the appeals launched by WHO for the greater Horn of Africa and Somalia to respond to the ongoing drought:
Contingency Fund for Emergencies (who.int)
Contributions and allocations (who.int)
