July 2022 – UNICEF Tanzania, in partnership with HelpAge International, stepped up its work to address the barriers older persons (OP) face in accessing vaccines and promote elder community-led COVID-19 prevention.

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed real gaps in data on OP and a lack of prioritization of OP in traditional immunization systems, making it more difficult to include them in the response. Despite OP being the age group most willing to take COVID-19 vaccines, a large proportion remains unvaccinated or under-vaccinated.

Facing the low uptake among OP, UNICEF Tanzania partnered with HelpAge and implemented the following interventions in two regions (Mwanza and Kigoma):

• Facilitating Older People Associations (OPAs)-lead dialogues from districts to village level;

• Mobilizing home-based care providers (HBCs), Village Health Worker (VHW), and Active Aging Club & Communities to disseminate accurate COVID-19 vaccine Information;

• Supporting mobile vaccine programme for the most challenged individuals.

From 1 November 2021 to 1 January 2022, uptake in two regions among OP increased by 7,8%, with a total of 6,899 OP vaccinated, lifting the regions from the least 10 regions to the first 10 regions in vaccine uptake. 420,000 people were reached with information on the benefits of COVID-19 vaccines and the adoption of preventive measures. Through networks of HelpAge with civil society organizations (CSOs), best practices were shared among other regions and some preventive measures focused on elderly needs were also strengthened.

Lesson Learned and Recommendations:

• Lack of credible information, low literacy levels, and rampant ageism are the main challenges for COVID-19 vaccine uptake among OP.

• Peer-to-peer awareness and community dialogues are key in breaking through community myths and misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine.

• Mobile vaccination is essential in addressing vaccine equity and access for the most challenged individuals in the most remote rural area.

• Bringing intergenerational interventions, such as creating dialogue spaces for the elderly, women and youth, could increase trust among target populations.

• Tailored approaches are required in terms of limited exposure to media, low health-seeking behavior, and isolation of OP.