For years, health workers in Nimba County have watched vaccines lose their potency before they ever reached a child’s arm. Power outages, long transport routes and inadequate storage meant doses meant to protect against measles, tetanus and other preventable diseases sometimes degraded before they left the depot — or never made it there in usable condition at all.
That gap is what the new Nimba County vaccine depot in Sanniquellie is meant to close. The Ministry of Health formally dedicated the facility on September 4, calling it a critical upgrade to the county’s cold-chain infrastructure — the unbroken chain of refrigeration that keeps vaccines within the 2–8°C range they need from the moment they’re manufactured to the moment they’re administered.
Why a Single County Depot Matters This Much
The Nimba County vaccine depot isn’t just a bigger fridge. It’s a structural fix to a problem that has quietly undermined Liberia’s national immunization program for years. Dr. Adolphus T. Clarke, who manages the country’s Expanded Program on Immunization, was blunt about what the facility does and doesn’t guarantee on its own.
“An EPI depot is only as effective as the system that surrounds it,” Clarke said at the dedication. “We must ensure that the cold chain remains functional, that vaccines are properly monitored and that supplies are distributed on time.”
That caveat matters. Cold-chain infrastructure across sub-Saharan Africa has historically failed not because the equipment doesn’t exist, but because it isn’t maintained, monitored, or paired with reliable power. Nimba’s own health leadership has been living that reality directly — inadequate storage capacity, transport difficulties and power constraints have all constrained the county’s immunization coverage for years, according to Nimba County Health Officer Dr. Ponnie Robertlee Dolo.
The Money and the Partners Behind the Depot
The project came together through a partnership involving the World Health Organization, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and UNICEF, alongside implementing partners like Jhpiego, whose Nimba County coordinator, Greg Wogbeh, called the depot a “lifeline” for immunization services in the county. Jhpiego has worked in Liberia since 2008 and has previously trained vaccinators across Nimba and neighboring counties on vaccine handling and storage, giving the organization direct institutional memory of exactly the kind of gaps this depot is meant to close.
Gavi’s involvement fits a much larger continental push. Between 2021 and 2025, the Alliance deployed nearly 38,000 cold chain equipment units across its supported countries, lifting the number of countries with 90%-or-higher cold chain functionality from just 3 to 31. Real-time temperature monitoring devices rolled out in 43 countries have cut vaccine losses by up to 80% where deployed. The Nimba depot is, in effect, a local instance of that same continent-wide strategy — Gavi’s Chief Country Delivery Officer, Thabani Maphosa, has described the approach as ensuring vaccines “reach people in the right place, at the right time and in the right condition.”
The Stakes Behind the Ribbon-Cutting
The timing gives the Nimba story added weight. A joint WHO-UNICEF report released in July found that 13.5 million children worldwide went without a single vaccine dose in 2025 — a slight improvement from the year before, but still far short of global targets. Measles coverage in particular remains dangerously below the 95% threshold needed to prevent outbreaks, and 57 countries reported disruptive measles outbreaks last year alone. Most of the world’s under-immunized children live in countries, like Liberia, that rely on Gavi support to keep national programs running.
Nimba County Superintendent Kuo Miapeh Gono framed the depot as a shared civic responsibility rather than a government-only asset. “This facility is not only an asset of the County Health Team; it is an asset of the people of Nimba County,” she said. “We have a responsibility to protect it, support its maintenance and ensure that it serves generations of children and families.”
A Push for Less Dependence on Donors
The dedication also became a platform for a broader domestic policy conversation. Nimba County District #2 Representative Nyahn G. Flomo used the occasion to disclose that Liberian lawmakers have formed a new Immunization and Primary Healthcare Caucus aimed at increasing legislative oversight of health financing — and, more pointedly, at reducing the country’s reliance on donor funding over time.
“Our goal is to strengthen legislative oversight, promote accountability in health financing and ensure that our immunization programs receive the sustainable funding they need,” Flomo said, adding that lawmakers are also weighing a Public Health Insurance Bill intended to build a domestically funded health financing mechanism.
That push toward domestic sustainability echoes a warning embedded in the WHO-UNICEF data: global cuts to international health financing over the past two years haven’t yet shown up fully in coverage numbers, but the surveillance systems needed to track their impact are already showing strain. For a country like Liberia, still leaning heavily on Gavi and WHO support, building durable local capacity — cold-chain depots included — is as much about future-proofing as it is about solving today’s storage gaps.
For more coverage of health infrastructure investment across the continent, visit Afrikeye, and for travel and regional context on West Africa, see Afrikeye Travel.
FAQ
What is a cold chain in the context of immunization?
A cold chain is the unbroken system of refrigerated storage and transport that keeps vaccines within a required temperature range — typically 2–8°C — from the point of manufacture through to administration. If that chain breaks at any point, vaccines can lose potency and become ineffective.
Who funded the Nimba County vaccine depot?
The facility was built with support from the World Health Organization, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and UNICEF, with implementation support from partners including Jhpiego and the Liberian Ministry of Health.
Why is cold-chain infrastructure such a persistent problem in West Africa?
Common challenges include unreliable electricity, long transport distances to rural health facilities, inadequate storage capacity, and insufficient maintenance of refrigeration equipment — all factors Nimba County health officials specifically cited as long-standing constraints.
How many children globally are missing routine vaccinations?
According to WHO and UNICEF’s 2025 data, an estimated 13.5 million children received no vaccine doses at all in their first year of life, with most living in countries that rely on Gavi-supported immunization programs.
