03.24.2021 WEBINAR
MODERATORS
Dr. Baz Semo, Managing Director, Global Health Programs, Global Health Division, Chemonics International
Dr. Noel Watson, Principal Founder, OpsMend
PANELISTS
Dr. Katherine Bliss, Senior Fellow, Global Health Policy Center, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Dr. Githinji Gitahi, Global CEO, Amref Health Africa
Rev David Oginde, Former Presiding Bishop Christ Is the Answer Ministries (CITAM), Chancellor of Pan Africa Christian (PAC) University.
Dr. John Oladejo, Director for Health Emergency Preparedness and Response at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)
Securing Demand for COVID-19 Vaccinations in LMICs - MARCH 24, 2021
The goal of this webinar is to help the global community understand COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and adequately address community and health systems-level obstacles.
This 1.5-hour webinar hosted by Chemonics International and GHSC Summit brought together practitioners, community leaders, and other critical stakeholders to share insights regarding community objections to COVID-19 vaccinations and key considerations for health systems to ensure vaccine uptake.
As different countries start the process of vaccinating their populations with the various COVID-19 vaccines, they have struggled with critical issues—not the least important of which is how to ensure enough demand for vaccination. To achieve herd (community) immunity, 70–85% of the population must be vaccinated. The challenge of ensuring high demand for vaccination is a difficult and complicated challenge: Some refuse to be vaccinated because they do not trust the government and health organizations, some refuse for religious reasons, and others refuse because they simply do not believe that vaccines can provide the desired protections. Service-related issues like waiting times at vaccination facilities, distance from home to the facilities, the cost of vaccination, and side effects all affect the population’s willingness to be vaccinated.
Each community has its own reasons for vaccine hesitancy. It is crucial for government and health organizations to understand and identify the different and complex causes of vaccine hesitancy and design, as rapidly as possible, efforts to minimize hesitancy and its consequences. Service-related issues must also be considered. The location of vaccination facilities is crucial. These facilities must have the right equipment, they should not be too far from the relevant population, and they must employ the right personnel to vaccinate the population quickly with minimal waiting time. In addition, countries must have robust and secure information systems that maintain information about the time of vaccination, the type of vaccine, and other important details. This is essential for keeping track of the services that have been provided and the services yet to be provided and reminding people of the importance, timing, and location of the next actions they must take.