{"id":41076,"date":"2026-07-30T08:06:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T06:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=41076"},"modified":"2026-07-30T13:13:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T11:13:16","slug":"zambia-vaccinates-304-000-children-in-measles-response-campaign","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/zambia-vaccinates-304-000-children-in-measles-response-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"Zambia vaccinates 304 000 children in measles response campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Ministry of Health said the Emergency Measles-Rubella Outbreak Response Immunisation Campaign had been completed in five priority districts where active transmission had been recorded.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Ministry of Health Head of Communication and Public Relations Twaambo Siavwapa told ZNBC News that 304 774 children were vaccinated during the campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Siavwapa said this represents 88% of the targeted children.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The emergency campaign was launched to close immunity gaps and slow the spread of measles in affected areas.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Siavwapa said the ongoing transmission is largely being driven by low immunity levels within parts of the population.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Health authorities have been working to increase vaccine coverage in areas where outbreaks have been reported, particularly among children who may have missed routine immunisation.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Measles is a highly contagious viral disease that can spread quickly in communities with low vaccination coverage. Children who are not immunised face a higher risk of severe illness, complications and death.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Ministry of Health Lusaka Provincial Health Director Dr Simulyamana Choonga said Lusaka Province had recorded more than 155 measles cases from the beginning of the year to date.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Choonga said two deaths had also been recorded in the province.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Ministry has urged parents and guardians to ensure that children receive all required vaccines as part of routine immunisation services.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":41077,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-41076","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Zambia has vaccinated more than 304 000 children in an emergency campaign aimed at containing measles outbreaks in five districts.","published_date":"","news_description":"Zambia has vaccinated more than 304 000 children in an emergency campaign aimed at containing measles outbreaks in five districts.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/41076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/41076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41078,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/41076\/revisions\/41078"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=41076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}