Online Event: The State of Immunization Under Covid-19
"Online Event: The State of Immunization Under Covid-19." CSIS Commission on Strengthening America's Health Security, Center for Strategic and International Studies, January 29, 2021. Accessed December 21, 2023. https://healthsecurity.csis.org/events/online-event-the-state-of-immunization-under-covid-19/
As the world passes one year of the coronavirus pandemic, multiple vaccine candidates have completed phase III trials, been approved, and are being prepared for global delivery. But amid what promises to be an unprecedented global introduction effort, countries are still working to restore routine immunization services and campaigns that had been disrupted or suspended earlier in the pandemic, leaving many children at risk of other outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. Despite evidence of the value of routine immunization services, health professionals continue to grapple with the diversion of resources to the Covid-19 response, rising costs, the slowdown of supply chains, and community fear and mistrust. To what extent has the pandemic affected country experiences with routine vaccination? And what are the prospects for revitalizing progress on routine immunization coverage for deadly diseases such as measles under emergency circumstances while preparing for the introduction of Covid-19 vaccines?
On Friday, January 29,the CSIS Global Health Policy Center hosted a panel discussion on opportunities to expand the reach of routine immunization services under Covid-19. CSIS Global Health Policy Center Senior Fellow Katherine E. Bliss moderated a discussion featuring Pierre Fontaine, Lead Technical Advisor for the Haiti Urban Immunization Program with John Snow, Inc.; Robin Nandy, Principal Adviser and Chief of Immunization at UNICEF; Esther Nasikye, Advocacy and Policy Manager with PATH Uganda; and Jennifer Siler, Vice President of Global Community Engagement for the Sabin Vaccine Institute.
This is the first in a series of virtual events on renewing the U.S. immunization agenda. This event is made possible by the generous support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.