Continuity and Rupture in Crisis: from Ebola to COVID-19 in Sierra Leone and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

This article examines the experience of healthcare professionals working in primary healthcare provision during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in North Kivu, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and in Kambia District, Sierra Leone. Drawing on ethnographic observation, interviews and focus groups, we explore everyday narratives of 'crisis' in these two regions which had recently seen Ebola epidemics. In describing the impact of COVID-19 on their life, work, and relationships with patients, healthcare workers made sense of the pandemic in relation to broader experiences of structural economic and political crisis, as well as differing experiences of recent Ebola epidemics.

Bringing the social into vaccination research: Community-led ethnography and trust-building in immunization programs in Sierra Leone.

Background: Vaccine hesitancy is a complex, contested social phenomenon and existing research highlights the multifaceted role of trust in strengthening vaccine confidence. However, understanding public engagement with vaccination through the lens of (mis)trust requires more contextual evidence on trust's qualitative determinants. This includes expanding the geographic focus beyond current studies' focus on High Income Countries.