Achieving high uptake of COVID-19 vaccines requires effective planning, coordination, and implementation of a range of strategies.
COVAX, the COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery Partnership and other partners work to ensure that the infrastructure, resources and technical assistance are available to help make sure that COVID-19 vaccines can be delivered to all those in need.
To assist, this toolkit offers a set of practical guidance, training and information resources to support programmes, partners, health workers, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders.
The toolkit is organized in line with the guidance on Developing a National Deployment and Vaccination Plan for COVID-19 vaccines.
The toolkit covers: Developing and submitting a National Deployment and Vaccination Plan (NDVP); Regulatory preparedness; Indemnification and liability; Costing and funding; Supply and logistics; Human resources and training; Vaccine specific resources; Considerations for optimizing the COVID-19 vaccine country portfolio; Vaccine acceptance and uptake (demand); Vaccine safety; Data and monitoring; Evaluation of COVID-19 vaccine introduction
A National Deployment and Vaccination Plan is an operational plan to implement and monitor COVID-19 vaccination rollout in a country.
Countries face challenges with erratic vaccine supplies, use of multiple vaccine products with different characteristics, and the size of populations and their diversity. Operational guidance and information is available to support planners and immunization programme managers at the national and sub-national levels on microplanning for COVID-19 vaccination implementation.
This document lays out key programmatic considerations essential for moving from mass campaigns for COVID-19 vaccination to integrating COVID-19 vaccination into immunization programmes, PHC and other relevant health services for 2022 and beyond. The ultimate aim is to fully explore potential areas for the integration of different components of immunization programmes, PHC, and the health system. Given the evolving epidemiological nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, this is a living document and will be updated to reflect the changing context including as policies for COVID-19 vaccinations over the longer term are formulated. Finally, the document is not intended to outline a prescriptive approach but rather to lay out the considerations and options for countries to consider and apply based on their needs and country context.
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Country experiences with COVID-19 vaccination: Mainstreaming & integration with immunization programme services and PHC highlights country examples of good practices and innovation to mainstream/integrate COVID-19 vaccination in the main critical areas of vaccination
WHO Prequalification aims to ensure medicines, vaccines and other health products for supply to low-income countries are quality-assured, safe, effective and accessible to all populations.
The WHO Emergency Use Listing Procedure (EUL) is a risk-based procedure for assessing and listing unlicensed vaccines, therapeutics and in vitro diagnostics with the ultimate aim of expediting the availability of these products to people affected
by a public health emergency.
For a vaccine to be procured through COVAX, it must be listed for emergency use by WHO through the EUL. EUL decisions and documents can also serve as a reference point for countries in their own regulatory decisions.
What you need to know:
Following new vaccine introduction into a routine immunization programme, the purpose of a post-introduction vaccine evaluation (PIE) is to evaluate the impact of the vaccine introduction on the country’s immunization programme and to rapidly identify problems needing correction as vaccination expands in country.
After COVID-19 vaccine introduction, in the mid- to long-term phase (between 6–18 months after introduction), a classic or full COVID-19 vaccine PIE (cPIE) is recommended. For countries interested in implementing the classic cPIE, please refer to the COVID-19 vaccine post-introduction evaluation (cPIE) guide: interim guidance, 25 August 2021.
The mini COVID-19 Post-Introduction Evaluation (mini-cPIE), also called the COVID-19 Vaccination Intra-Action Review (IAR), is a set of tools available to countries to review the early phase(s) of the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccine implementation. The mini-cPIE is a country-led facilitated discussion that aims to identify vaccine delivery challenges needing immediate corrective action and best practices for continual improvement and collective learning. The areas covered follow the National Deployment and Vaccination Plan for COVID-19 Vaccines (NDVP).
The mini-cPIE working documents (trigger question database, note-taking template, and report template) are available here:
Countries are encouraged to begin using these working drafts for planning and implementation as needed. Given the evolving situation with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, the trigger questions may be updated frequently based on feedback received. The mini-cPIE is recommended 2 to 6 months following COVID-19 vaccine introduction. Countries may adapt the questions as needed for their context. This slide set provides an overview of how to conduct a mini COVID-19 Post Introduction Evaluation.
Watch the training recording: Mini-cPIE (COVID-19 Vaccination IAR) – What is it and how to conduct one?
Vaccine effectiveness and impact studies are needed to understand how the vaccine works in the real world. Guidance on how to conduct such studies, sample protocols, and other resources can be found here.
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