“We need these jabs”: How a Ugandan ‘bingwa’ is helping boost demand for COVID-19 vaccines
May 10, 2023
Young Africans are stepping up in support of their continent’s New Public Health Orde
May 31, 2023
At the Ikeja City Mall in Lagos, Nigeria on Saturday 11th February 2023, the buzz of unusual activities is hard to miss. Top Nigerian celebrities and artists can be seen alighting from their cars in one section of the parking lot from where the sound of Afrobeat music can be heard from afar.
On the same spot, a team of medical personnel and Nigeria’s ministry of health officials have pitched tent and can be seen busy offloading cold boxes and other medical items.
A growing crowd of bubbly and excited youngsters are gathering chanting ‘we are here to shoot our shot’.
The tents and flyers are marked ‘AU Bingwa COVID-19 vaccination campaign’. Curious onlookers can be seen keen to catch a glimpse of the happenings. But what is this AU Bingwa COVID-19 vaccination campaign?
What is the Bingwa campaign all about?
The African Union Bingwa COVID-19 vaccination campaign is an initiative launched in April 2022 by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), a public health agency of the African Union. The initiative deploys young volunteers across the African continent to accelerate the uptake of COVID-19 vaccinations.
It is a deliberate effort to ensure that Africa’s greatest asset – young people – are fully involved in, and own, the post-COVID-19 recovery strategies in their home countries.
