Nearly 1,000 Futures Protected in 48 Hours: Lessons from School-Based HPV Vaccination in Nairobi

What does it take to vaccinate nearly 1,000 girls against HPV in just two days?

Far more than vaccines.

It takes coordination between schools and health facilities. Early engagement with parents. Prepared frontline teams. Timing. Follow-up. Trust.

I secured a grant to develop and trial an HPV vaccine immunization program that would build trust in the vaccine before we began immunizations.

Through the HPV Action Labs project jointly implemented with the Embakasi Central Sub-County Health Management Team in Nairobi, two schools were selected based on previous operational challenges: Mwangaza Primary School and Komarock South Primary School.

Laying the Groundwork

Although the vaccination exercise took place in March 2026, the groundwork had started much earlier.

Working closely with school-health teachers, we tracked PTA meeting schedules and secured opportunities to engage parents directly during early morning sessions before the school day began.

A Ministry of Health officer engages parents during a PTA sensitization meeting at Mwangaza Primary School, creating space for dialogue, addressing concerns, and building trust ahead of HPV vaccination.

Those meetings mattered:

•  Parents asked difficult questions.
• Misconceptions and concerns surfaced openly.
• A space for honest conversations was created.
• Trust-building began long before vaccination day arrived.

Consent forms that had already been printed were then distributed through school-health teachers, followed by continuous follow-up between schools and health teams.

Preparation for vaccinations

When vaccination days arrived, preparation made the difference. Vaccines, syringes, vaccination cards, data tools, waste management supplies, and dedicated vaccination teams had all been organized in advance. Frontline teams were therefore able to focus fully on service delivery.

On March 9, 2026, 518 girls received the HPV vaccine at Mwangaza Primary School.

One moment stayed with me: several Grade 9 girls had not received consent forms but did not want to miss the opportunity to be vaccinated. The team respectfully contacted parents directly.

Fifteen parents immediately approved vaccination. One parent declined due to common vaccine myths, while another requested more time and information. Notably, several of these parents referred back to earlier PTA sensitization meetings, recalling the discussions and assurances shared during those sessions.

Generating confidence in the vaccines

During the follow-up calls, a familiar question kept recurring: “Are other girls also receiving the vaccine?”

Two patterns stood out:

• Social norms shape decisions: Parents often look to others for reassurance before consenting. When vaccination is perceived as a collective action, confidence increases.
• Sensitization builds trust that is later activated: PTA sessions did more than share information, they created familiarity and trust that resurfaced during decision-making, turning uncertainty into confidence.

The following day at Komarock South Primary School, another 462 girls received the HPV vaccine.

In just 48 hours, 980 adolescent girls were protected against HPV and their future risk of cervical cancer significantly reduced.

Lessons Learned

Beyond the numbers, this experience reinforced several important lessons:

•  Parent sensitization cannot be treated as an afterthought: Early engagement created familiarity and trust long before vaccination teams arrived at the schools.
• Schools remain one of the strongest platforms for reaching adolescents with health services: When education and health systems coordinate well, coverage can increase rapidly.
• Older girls themselves were influential advocates: Some actively pushed for their parents to be contacted because they did not want to miss vaccination. Their agency and peer influence mattered.
• Preparation shaped performance: Advance planning allowed vaccination teams to work efficiently with minimal disruption to school activities.
• Data alignment remains critical: Matching school registers, facility records, and vaccine utilization data is essential for accountability and accurate reporting.

Nearly 1,000 futures protected in two days is not only a vaccination milestone. It is a reminder that strong relationships, local coordination, and trusted community platforms are central to delivering life-saving vaccines at scale.