Covid-19 vaccine updates: India likely to decide on first vaccine this week?

                               CORONAVIRUS VACCINE UPDATES

Covid-19 vaccine updates: India likely to decide on first vaccine this week?

The world is in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic. As WHO and partners work together on the response -- tracking the pandemic, advising on critical interventions, distributing vital medical supplies to those in need--- they are racing to develop and deploy safe and effective vaccines. 

Vaccines save millions of lives each year. Vaccines work by training and preparing the body’s natural defences --- the immune system--- to recognize and fight off the viruses and bacteria they target. If the body is exposed to those disease-causing germs later, the body is immediately ready to destroy them, preventing illness.

There are currently more than 50 COVID-19 vaccine candidates in trials. WHO is working in collaboration with scientists, business, and global health organizations through the ACT Accelerator to speed up the pandemic response. When a safe and effective vaccine is found, COVAX (led by WHO, GAVI and CEPI) will facilitate the equitable access and distribution of these vaccines to protect people in all countries. People most at risk will be prioritized. While we work towards rolling out a safe and effective vaccine fairly, we must continue the essential public health actions to suppress transmission and reduce mortality.

Course information

Overview: WHO is working in collaboration with scientists, businesses and global health organizations to speed up the pandemic response and facilitate the equitable access and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. This course provides general information on COVID-19 and specific information on storage, handling and administration of the vaccine, recording and monitoring including for adverse events following immunization (AEFI), and communication (acceptance and demand) through a series of short video lectures and quizzes to test your knowledge. This course is primarily for frontline health workers who will be vaccinators and priority recipients.

Learning objectives: By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• describe the pathogen (SARS-CoV-2) and coronavirus disease (COVID-19);
• explain cold-chain requirements, storage and handling principles for various delivery contexts, and describe options/procedures for waste disposal;
• describe the process of COVID-19 vaccine administration and identify infection prevention and control measures that should be used during vaccination sessions;
• identify an adverse event following immunization and explain how to report AEFI following COVID-19 vaccination;
• recognize recording and registration forms and explain how to track defaulters; and
• demonstrate effective and individualised communications about COVID-19 vaccination.

Course duration: Approximately 3 hours.

Certificates: Participants who score 80% or higher on the course quizzes will receive a Record of Achievement certificate.

This course was produced in collaboration with UNICEF. All content has been technically clear

New courses on COVID-19 vaccines

Working with WHO expert teams, OpenWHO launched the following courses to transfer critical knowledge on vaccination for the evolving COVID-19 pandemic:

• COVID-19 vaccination training for health workers: All health workers involved in implementation of COVID-19 vaccination need to have adequate knowledge and skills in order to ensure safe and efficient COVID-19 vaccine administration to specific priority groups as per country policy. This course provides general information on the disease and specific information on storage, handling and administration of the vaccine, recording and monitoring (including for adverse events following immunization (AEFI)), and communication (acceptance and demand) through a series of short video lectures and quizzes to test your knowledge. The course targets frontline health workers who will be vaccinators and also priority recipients.

• Orientation to national deployment and vaccination planning for COVID-19 vaccines: The Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator’s Country Readiness and Delivery workstream has released Guidance on developing a national deployment and vaccination plan (NDVP) for COVID-19 vaccines. This training package is intended to support national and sub-national focal points in preparing for COVID-19 vaccination. The training provides an overview of key aspects of the Guidance on developing a national deployment and vaccination plan for COVID-19 vaccines and highlights available and upcoming resources for COVID-19 vaccine introduction. Coming soon

• COVAX Facility

  The COVAX Facility is the global procurement mechanism of COVAX. The COVAX Facility will make investments across a broad portfolio of promising vaccine candidates (including those being supported by CEPI) to make sure at-risk investment in manufacturing happens now. This means the COVAX Facility, by pooling purchasing power from all countries that participate, will have rapid access to doses of safe and effective vaccines as soon as they receive regulatory approval. Guided by an allocation framework being developed by WHO, the COVAX Facility will then equitably distribute these doses to help protect the most at-risk groups in all participating countries.

• COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC)

  The COVAX AMC is the financing instrument that will support the participation of 92 lower-middle and low-income economies in the COVAX Facility. The COVAX AMC is critical to ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, regardless of income level – and requires an urgent investment of US$ 2 billion, from sovereign donors, philanthropies and the private sector, by the end of 2020. 
  

  Country readiness & delivery

  WHO is working with partners Gavi and UNICEF to ensure that the infrastructure is in place, and the technical support available, to make sure COVID-19 vaccines can be safely delivered to all those who need them.  

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