Un homme recevant une dose de vaccin contre le choléra, au Liban-Nord, le 12 novembre 2022. (Credit: Michel Hallak/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — A vaccination campaign against cholera began Saturday morning in the Bekaa and Akkar governates, where the illness has been most severe over the last several weeks.
The campaign, launched by the Ministry of Health in cooperation with several Lebanese and international associations, will last 18 days.
Nearly 200 administrative staff and nurses equipped by the Lebanese Red Cross (LRC) were deployed to several villages of Akkar, where vaccination will be carried out in coordination with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
According to L'Orient Today's correspondent, 72 teams — each composed of a health worker and an assistant charged with recording the names of those vaccinated — will be deployed to 27 villages in Akkar throughout the campaign.
— Ministry of Public Health - Lebanon (@mophleb) November 11, 2022
In Baalbeck, five teams circulated from house to house in Temnine to administer the vaccine to everyone over the age of one, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent. NGO Medair is in charge of implementing vaccination in this region.
The vaccines were donated to Lebanon by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, which gave 600,000 doses on Thursday. Egypt and the S. foundation of the Sanofi laboratory also made additional donations.
'Clean up the water sources'
During a tour in Akkar, caretaker Health Minister Firass Abiad expressed his hope that "600,000 doses of vaccine will be administered in the coming weeks." He also confirmed that 200 teams are deployed in the North, Akkar, Baalbeck and Hermel.
"The second phase of vaccination will then be initiated," Abiad continued, without specifying what the second phase will look like. He also stressed "the need to seriously clean the water sources.''
Abiad said water quality tests will be conducted free of charge in government hospitals in the region.
No new cholera deaths have been recorded since Nov. 3
The cholera epidemic appears to be stabilizing in Lebanon, as the rate of contamination is decreasing.
Ten new contaminations were recorded in between Thursday and Friday, according to a report published Friday evening by the Ministry of Health, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 521.
No new deaths were recorded by the Ministry since Nov. 3, though 18 people have died from the disease since it reappeared in Lebanon on Oct. 5. In hospitals, 62 beds are currently occupied by confirmed or suspected cholera patients.
Additional reporting by Michel Hallak and Sarah Abdallah.