Skip to content
News item

Roll out of 42,000 Covid-19 vaccines starting in 12 hospitals in Juba, South Sudan /

For immediate release

Juba, 28 May 2021

The National Ministry of Health, working together with the Health Pooled Fund (HPF) Programme led by Crown Agents, the not-for-profit international development organisation, has started to roll out the Covid-19 vaccine in 12 health facilities in Juba this week.

The National Ministry of Health is assisted by the State Ministry of Health and the County Health Department to ensure that the involvement of all health partners working on service delivery in South Sudan is coordinated, especially at the community level.

The HPF programme will assist the Government in transporting the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to the designated hospitals and is ensuring adequate storage upon arrival. HPF representatives will also make sure that each Primary Health Care Centre has enough staff to deliver the vaccinations. This will include two vaccinators, crowd controllers and nurses for post-vaccination care, should the need arise.

The official launch of the roll out took place at the Kator Primary Health Care Centre and was inaugurated by Hon. Sarah Nene, Deputy Governor of Eastern Equatoria State.

Hon. Nene implored all South Sudanese to get vaccinated, noting that it is one of the ways of defeating Covid-19: “Apart from social distancing and wearing face masks, getting the vaccine is one of the surest ways of defeating Covid-19. We should also not get careless after receiving the vaccine. We must continue with the Ministry of Health protocols so that we overcome this pandemic.” she explained.

The Deputy Governor also spoke about the ongoing misconceptions about the vaccine: “I know there are many rumours concerning this vaccine, especially among women. To show that the vaccine is safe, I will take my jab here in front of all of you to help demystify rumours and misinformation.”

Mick Robson, Crown Agents’ Team Lead on the HPF programme, said: “We are proud to support the Ministry of Health to deliver this vaccine to the people of South Sudan. With our network of facilities, we are able to ensure access for priority groups as well as for all other citizens above 18 years.”

“In partnership with the Ministry of Health and our implementing partners, we will provide health services for those communities who need it most. I would like to recognise and acknowledge all the health workers who have been working tirelessly to keep us safe and are on the forefront of rolling out this vaccine. We are indebted to you and all the work you have put in.” continued Robson.

HealthLink South Sudan is one of the 11 implementing partners contracted by Health Pooled Fund to deliver services within the country. The organisation will start vaccinating people in the 12 identified HPF supported facilities where the programme has helped set up vaccination centres. They are: Kator Primary Health Care Centre (PHCC), Malakia PHCC, Nyakuron PHCC, Hai Jebel PHCC, Lobonok PHCC, Lokiliri PHCC, Kuda PHCC, Lirya PHCC, Rokon PHCC, Kimu PHCC, Gurei PHCC, and Munuki PHCC. People with underlying conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, HIV, kidney, and all other underlying conditions will be given priority at the health facilities.

To ensure the success of the vaccination campaign, HPF facilitated the training of 27 vaccinators who will be stationed at the identified health facilities throughout the exercise. Additionally, 65 Community Health Workers were briefed on the benefits of the Covid-19 vaccine so they can actively engage within the communities. This will ensure people living in rural areas are provided accurate information about the immunisation, tackling misinformation and myths.

HPF will work with an additional nine implementing partners to expand the vaccine roll-out in the other seven states the programme works in, supporting 23 Primary Health Care Centres and hospitals.

Contact person for press enquiries:

Ms Anna Schuesterl, Senior Communications and Marketing Manager, Crown Agents

Mobile: +44 77 76 16 05 86; Email: comms.team@crownagents.co.uk

Notes for Editors

About the South Sudan Health Pooled Fund (HPF) HPF is a five-year, multi-donor programme led by Crown Agents and funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the Government of Canada, the Swedish International Development and Cooperation Agency (SIDA), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), GAVI-The Vaccine Alliance, and the European Union (EU). Working with 23 locally embedded partners, the programme provides hundreds of thousands of citizens, especially women and children, with quality healthcare, delivering services across 80% of South Sudan. Amongst others, it procures, stores and distributes life-saving medication to health facilities throughout the country and ensures that local staff receive practical training in cold-chain storage to keep drugs effective.

For more information on HPF, please click here.

About Crown Agents

Crown Agents is the not-for-profit international development organisation working with governments and partners to design, build and deliver stronger health systems for productive and resilient societies. We work in over 60 countries and reach over 36 million people a year, bringing specialised expertise in supply chain management and logistics, fund management and multi-sector partnerships.

About COVAX

COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access, abbreviated as COVAX, is a worldwide initiative aimed at equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines. It is co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi- the Vaccine Alliance and the World Health Organization (WHO). The initiative works in partnership with UNICEF as key implementing partner, as well as civil society organisations, vaccine manufacturers, the World Bank, and others.