African Vaccination Week 2021 - Activity & Social Media Report
African Vaccination Week (AVW) is an annual event celebrated during the last week of April, led and coordinated by WHO AFRO and implemented by Member Countries. This year, AVW was celebrated from 24-30 April, under the global theme, “Vaccines Bring Us Closer”. The 2021 theme came against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic that swept across the world, put a strain on health systems and crippled economies.
On the continent, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted routine immunization services in more than 15 countries, leaving many at risk of being infected with diphtheria, measles, meningitis, and many other vaccine-preventable diseases.
The week served as an opportunity to spotlight the value of vaccines and the need for countries to safely resume and scale up immunization services, even as they continue managing the COVID-19 pandemic.
