Cameroon’s NITAG recommends COVID-19 vaccination among pregnant and lactating women

Like in many countries, Cameroon, a Central African Country, was quick to introduce and roll out COVID-19 vaccines. These introductions were preceded by a recommendation for the National Immunization Technical and Advisory group (NITAG), which in March 2021 recommended the country to introduce AstraZeneca, Sinopharm and Johnson and Johnson vaccines. An initial consignment of these vaccines was received from the COVAX facility, the Chinese government and the African Union respectively and as roll out commenced, the country faced and eminent shortage of AstraZeneca vaccines. This shortage meant that people who had received a first dose of this vaccine may not be able to get their second dose within the recommended timeframe. So, the ministry of public health (MoH) solicited NITAG’s input on the interchangeability of vaccines. In addition, the MoH requested the NITAG to review its initial recommendation regarding the introduction of Pfizer BioNTech to improve the number of vaccines that it...