Advancing Local Solutions and Innovations for Lasting Impact: Applying Strategies for COVID-19 Vaccination to Routine Immunization
Published on November 8, 2023
The COVID-19 pandemic had a vast impact on health programs around the world and disrupted routine immunization and health services overall. MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity is USAID’s flagship technical assistance mechanism for immunization, supporting 18 countries around the world. It works to build countries’ capacity to identify and overcome barriers to reaching zero-dose and under-immunized children and older populations with lifesaving vaccines and other integrated health services, including rebuilding immunization systems adversely affected by the pandemic.
On December 6, 2023, the Wilson Center’s Maternal Health Initiative, in collaboration with MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity, held an event to share best practices and innovations used to achieve high equitable coverage of COVID-19 vaccination and reach hard-to-reach priority populations, and how they could be applied to routine immunization. The event will focus on key themes such as community engagement to promote vaccine confidence and improve accessibility, strategies for reaching priority populations, partnerships between government and NGOs, strengthening data availability and use for decision-making, and adapting supply chain management to meet the needs of new vaccines. Speakers discussed opportunities for applying these strategies to routine immunization, and what is needed to facilitate that transition.
Speakers included:
- Dr. Rajani B.N., Deputy Director/State Immunization Officer, Government of Karnataka, India
- Dr. Maria Joannes Uzoma, Executive Secretary of Imo State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Nigeria
- Dr. Joel Yakubu Cherima, MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity Project Country Lead, Nigeria, JSI
- Dr. Isaac Mugoya, MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity Project Country Lead, Kenya, JSI
- Dr. Betuel Sigauque, MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity Project Country Lead, Mozambique, JSI
- Dr. Gopal Krishna Soni, MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity Project Country Lead, India, JSI