Attachments
Highlights
A third wave of COVID-19 was in circulation from mid-June 2021 to 20 August 2021. As of 30 September, a cumulative total of 6,394 cases of COVID-19 has been confirmed with 121 deaths in the country.
A total of 991,490 COVID-19 vaccine doses were received in-country, including 456,690 doses under COVAX. First dose coverage (≥18 years old) is at 8.09 per cent (346,635).
Over 1.6 million children under five years of age were vaccinated with nOPV2 during the second round of polio campaign (2-5 July 2021), and cumulative total (Jan-July 2021) of 25,462 children under 5 with SAM were admitted for treatment.
Food insecurity is rising, with MAM and SAM rates at 11 and 6 per cent respectively out of the 9,336 children screened with MUAC. This is higher than the rates of 8 and 3 per cent respectively in Q3 of 2020.
A total of 3,103 children and 674 adults received Psychological First Aid (PFA) in the context of COVID-19.
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
As of 30 September 2021, there were cumulative total of 6,394 confirmed COVID-19 cases out of 235,596 tests performed, 121 deaths and 4,390 recoveries in Sierra Leone. A total of 346,635 persons have been reached with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine (59.8% males, 40.2% females) and 81,216 with the second dose. The first dose coverage among the target population (≥18 years old) is 8.09% and a total of 28,141 (62.5%) health workers have received a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
In mid-June 2021, the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) declared that a third wave of COVID-19 was in circulation and imposed new restrictions. On 20 August 2021, the third wave was declared over.
While the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in Guinea was declared over mid-June 2021, on 6 August 2021, the Ministry of Health of Guinea informed a confirmed case of Marburg virus disease (MVD) in Guéckédou Prefecture, Nzérékoré Region, south-western Guinea, close to Sierra Leone border. This new alert led the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) and partners in Sierra Leone to continue some key emergency preparedness and readiness activities undertaken for EVD.
During the reporting period, UNICEF continued to support the GoSL in actively pursuing preparedness measures to address the threat of EVD and MVD spillover to Sierra Leone while simultaneously preventing and addressing fire outbreaks, responding to COVID-19, and rolling out a polio campaign. UNICEF Sierra Leone is also supporting the COVID-19 vaccine deployment in the country, with the total 991,490 doses received, including 456,690 doses delivered under COVAX, as of 30 September 2021.