COVID disrupted measles vaccinations in Africa and now cases are surging

FILE PHOTO: A health worker administers a polio vaccine at Bundung Maternal and Child Health Hospital in Bundung, Gambia August 30, 2022. REUTERS/Edward McAllister/File Photo

BUNDUNG, Gambia/LONDON (Reuters) - Clutching an umbrella, medical records and her two-year-old daughter, Kani Fall negotiated the brown puddles lapping at the hospital gate, the final hurdle in a two-hour, rain-soaked journey to her nearest vaccination clinic in western Gambia.

Fall waited with dozens of mothers and babies in the flooded courtyard of Bundung Hospital. Then a doctor emerged with bad news. The hospital had run out of measles vaccines, and it wasn't clear when they would receive more.