When Daytime Visits Are Not Enough: Night-Time Polio Vaccination to Reach Missed Children

Wednesday, December 24, 2025
Country
Burkina Faso

During the November 2025 polio vaccination days in Zabré, health teams introduced night-time vaccination visits (8–10 pm) to reach children missed during the day while parents worked in the fields. Over three evenings in Kenoko and Bourma, teams vaccinated 97 children who had previously been unreached, significantly improving coverage. The initiative was welcomed by communities as a practical, respectful adaptation to local realities and demonstrated how flexible delivery approaches can close immunity gaps in rural, agriculture-dependent settings. Read more: Night-time vaccination to reach farming families in Burkina Faso

Night-time vaccination of absent children in the farming hamlets of Kenoko and the village of Bourma, CSPS of Sampéma, Zabré Health District

In the Zabré Health District of Burkina Faso, farming families leave before dawn and return after dark—taking their children with them to the fields. During the November 2025 polio campaign, vaccination teams discovered that this daily rhythm was leaving children unreached.

At the Sampéma Health Center (CSPS), supervisors identified nine children missed on the second day of the campaign because their mothers had left for the fields by 4:00 AM and wouldn't return until 8:00 PM. Rather than accept these gaps, the team devised a solution: nighttime vaccination.

"We agreed to leave no child behind," explains the head nurse. "If families couldn't come to us during the day, we would come to them at night."

From days three through five of the campaign, teams deployed between 8:00 PM and 10:00 PM—the narrow window when farming families had returned home. Armed with flashlights and vaccine carriers, vaccinators traveled to the farming hamlet of Kenoko (5 km from the health center) and the village of Bourma (4 km away).

The results exceeded expectations:

  • 49 children vaccinated in Kenoko during nighttime rounds
  • 48 children vaccinated in Bourma
  • 97 children total who would otherwise have been missed

Two dedicated nighttime teams—each with two vaccinators and one social mobilizer—worked alongside the 10 daytime teams, ensuring comprehensive coverage across the health area.

Parents welcomed the initiative with gratitude. "They felt we were truly committed to their children's health, even outside normal hours," one vaccinator noted. For health workers, the approach was "practical and adapted"—a strategy that filled daytime gaps and strengthened community trust.

The Zabré experience demonstrates a simple but powerful lesson: reaching every child sometimes means meeting families where they are—even after sunset.

A male health worker wearing a beige vest over an orange shirt vaccinates an older man's arm at night in Zabré. Other community members, including women in traditional dress, watch the vaccination. A bright light source illuminates the scene against the dark night background.

Health workers extend vaccination services into the evening hours, ensuring farming families don't miss out. © UNICEF Burkina Faso

A nighttime vaccination scene showing a male health worker in a beige ASBC vest administering oral drops to a young child carried by a mother in a white hijab and beige vest. Another woman in blue looks on smiling. A vaccine cold box is visible on the ground.

Community health workers vaccinate children after dark in Kenoko, one of the farming hamlets reached through nighttime outreach. © UNICEF Burkina Faso

A vaccination team poses at night in Zabré. Two women in white hijabs and beige vests stand with a male health worker carrying a blue vaccine cold box. A young boy in a striped shirt stands in front of them. One woman holds a flashlight that illuminates the scene.

A vaccination team with their cold box and flashlight—essential equipment for nighttime outreach in Zabré's farming communities. © UNICEF Burkina Faso

A nighttime vaccination scene in Zabré, Burkina Faso. A grandmother in a white t-shirt and blue headscarf holds a young infant while a health worker administers oral polio vaccine drops. A flashlight illuminates the scene as other family members, including women and children, gather around in the darkness.

A family gathers by flashlight as health workers administer polio drops during a nighttime outreach session in Zabré. © UNICEF Burkina Faso

Nighttime polio vaccination in Zabré. A young mother in a dark hijab sits on a blue plastic chair, holding her infant who is receiving oral polio drops. A woman in a white lace dress stands nearby while a vaccine cold box is visible on the ground. The scene is lit by artificial light in the darkness.

A mother holds her child steady as a vaccinator administers polio drops during evening outreach in Sampéma. © UNICEF Burkina Faso

A female health worker in a yellow and blue uniform administers oral polio vaccine drops to a young child held by the mother wearing a pink/red hijab. Another woman stands watching. The scene takes place at night, with darkness visible in the background.

A vaccinator delivers polio drops to a child during nighttime rounds, reaching families who work in the fields all day. © UNICEF Burkina Faso

Written by:

  • DPV: Dr NEYA .N. Christelle, SOME Vouanda, Dr NANEMA .P. Cedric
  • DRS/Nakambé: Dr TOUGRI Lendé, KOUDOUGOU Elisé, SAWADOGO Pousnoaga
  • DS/Zabré: Dr BORO Djibril, OUEDRAOGO Bila Gilbert, OUEDRAOGO Issaka
  • UNICEF Burkina Faso: Bienvenu Nguejio and Boukaré Ouedraogo

Edited by Daria Shubina, UNICEF Polio SBC Knowledge Management Specialist