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Zimbabwe's nationwide measles vaccination campaign officially ended 2 June and successfully immunized more than 5 million children in response to an outbreak that, since September 2009, had seen almost 8000 suspected cases reported and more than 500 deaths.

The campaign came to its scheduled end on 2 June. By the end of Day 10 (2 June), 4 496 408 children had been vaccinated against measles and 1 465 974 had received vitamin A supplements.[1] Approximately 79% of the targeted children for measles and 76% for vitamin A supplementation were reached. In terms of population vaccine coverage in different provinces, Chitungwiza, Harare [2] and Manicaland have either reached or surpassed the 95% benchmark. Mashonaland East, Masvingo, Midlands, Bulawayo and Mashonaland West range between 80-86% coverage while Mashonaland Central, Matabeleland North and South range from 75-76%. So far, the national coverage stands at 79%. See graph.

By the end of Day 8, 3 993 301 children had received measles vaccination and 1 336 274 had been given vitamin A supplements.( The target group for vitamin A supplements includes all children aged 6 months to 5 years who have not received supplements within the last 4 weeks. The target group for measles vaccination includes all children aged 6 months to 15 years regardless of their previous immunization status. This figure is expected to change because reports received from the districts for day seven and eight are not yet complete. ). In terms of population vaccine coverage in different provinces, Manicaland has covered about 83% of its target, Mashonaland central 66%, Mashonaland East 80%, Mashonaland West 74%, Matabeleland North 71%, Matabeleland South 67%, Midlands 69%, Masvingo 70%, Bulawayo 71%, Chitungwiza 83% and Harare 66% against a benchmark of 95% (see graph below).

By the end of Day 7, 3 580 441 children had received measles vaccination and 1 219 419 had been given vitamin A supplements (This figure is expected to change because reports received from the districts for day five and six are not yet complete. ). In Hatcliff, community mobilizers started house-to-house visits to assess by card, ink mark (All vaccinated children had their fingers marked with indelible ink) or immunization history whether all eligible children have been vaccinated. This is expected to be replicated in other suburbs of Harare, as well as carried out randomly by supervision teams in different provinces.

In the first three days of the nationwide measles vaccination campaign, 1 281 629 children were immunized against the disease, or approximately 25% of the almost 5 million target (This figure is expected to change because reports received from the districts for day three are still incomplete). Almost 500 000 children also received vitamin A supplements.