In the Democratic Republic of Congo, less than one percent of the population is vaccinated against COVID-19 even though it began its vaccination campaign in April 2021. In order to improve the results, in November VillageReach started supporting the Congolese government to vaccinate a large number of people through the vaccinodromes launched in four areas of Kinshasa, which include Gombe, Kalamu, Masina and N’djili. The overall goal of the initiative is to ensure the accessibility and availability of vaccines, bringing them closer to where people live and work.
Join us through this photo series as we go through a high-level tour of the sites.
Vaccinodrome at Place des Evolués in Gombe
The vaccinodrome located at Place des Evolués is the first vaccine site that was deployed and is currently part of a target to vaccinate 4.12 million people by the end of 2022. Learn more about these deployments here.
Under this blue tent, which serves as a waiting and observation room, you will note people waiting to be vaccinated while others are getting observed after having been vaccinated.
Place des Evolués was the first site installed with many amenities included, such as drinking water to help provide a comfortable patient experience. Here you will note that as part of the intake process, on the left-hand side of the photo, clients will move to the next station where they have their health checked, including their vital signs.
As part of the intake process, clients will have their temperature taken and a mask is provided should they not have one. They will also have their hands sanitized to keep the area clean. Initial screening questions are also asked to ensure that clients have not been exposed to anyone infected with the virus.
At the next station, clients complete a registration process. Maintaining accurate records is critical to understanding progress against the vaccination goal. This also enables the client to select the vaccine of his or her choice and to log the information necessary, especially if it is a two-dose vaccine.
Here you will see that each vaccination booth is organized by vaccine to be more efficient in the vaccination workflow process, by sending clients to the specific booth or queue, should there be one. Three vaccines are offered at this vaccinodrome. The photo above is for Johnson & Johnson.
[Moderna]
[Pfizer]
Once the client receives the jab they remain in observation for 15 minutes, as shown above, to ensure there is not a reaction to the vaccine. They can sit on one of the comfortable couches or chairs as shown in the next photo.
The last step in the process is to stop at the record-keeping station where final records and data entry processes take place. Here people are provided with their vaccination card and next appointment in the case of a two-dose vaccine.
Now you have come to the end of the tour. Join us again for our next vaccinodrome tour.