Dear APSR member,

We are pleased to share an announcement from WHO about new resources for COVID-19 vaccines introduction. Please see below for more information.

New COVID-19 vaccine resources

With an expected vaccine delivery ramp-up and uptake surge in the next months, coordination and preparedness will be key to ensure the maximal use of COVID-19 vaccines. Countries are encouraged to update their national deployment and vaccination plans and costing through the Partners Platform, which will help access needs and resource gaps - including delivery costing - in preparation for vaccine roll-out. The COVAX Country Readiness and Delivery workstream is finalizing guidance and tools to support preparedness. 
 

Please see below some recently published updates to the COVID-19 vaccine introduction toolkit, which is available in AR CH EN FR RU SP.

New guidance

The updated Guidance on Developing a National Deployment and Vaccination Plan for COVID-19 vaccines (2.0) is available online, with new information on a number of areas, including updated additional resources at the end of each chapter.

Vaccines costing and funding

New resources on vaccines costing and funding aim to facilitate national deployment and vaccination plans submission, including a pre-populated version of the COVID-19 Vaccine Introduction and deployment Costing tool (CVIC tool): CVIC 2.2 EZ tool for AMC92 countries, with most of the input cells pre-filled with global estimates.
 

The COVID-19 vaccination costing Q&A provides a basic introduction to the importance of a good costing exercise for COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, how it can be done, and how to seek technical assistance. 
 

“What is the CVIC tool?” video is available in English, French and  Spanish.
 

The OpenWHO course CVIC tool: using the COVID-19 Vaccine Introduction and deployment Costing Tool targets national programme managers and personnel who have been involved in the costing, budgeting or financing processes of COVID-19 vaccine delivery at the country level.
 

Technical support on the use of the CVIC tool is available. The World Health Organization (WHO) Costing Team can be reached at: CVICosting@who.int. 
 

Learn more about vaccines costing and funding

No-fault compensation

The COVAX No-Fault Compensation Program webpage brings more information on NFC for Advance Market Commitment (AMC) Eligible Economies. The Program provides fair, no-fault, lump sum compensation to eligible individuals who suffer certain serious adverse events after receiving vaccines distributed through the COVAX Facility until 30 June 2022. 
 

COVAX No-Fault Compensation Program for AMC-Eligible Economies

Target populations and delivery strategies

The WHO SAGE roadmap for prioritizing uses of COVID-19 vaccines in the context of limited supply: An approach to inform planning and subsequent recommendations based on epidemiological setting and vaccine supply scenarios, first issued on 20 October 2020, was recently updated considering epidemiological settings and vaccine supply scenarios.
 

Also check out the Guidance note and checklist for tackling gender-related barriers to equitable COVID-19 vaccine deployment.
 

Read more about target populations and delivery strategies

New and updated resources

These resources inform vaccine deployment considering supply constraints:

Guidance on utilization of COVID19 vaccine before the date of expiry

Technical note on delayed shipments for the ChAdOx1-S [recombinant] vaccines: what are the implications for the administration of second doses

Interim recommendations for use of the Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccine against COVID-19 - Interim guidance - 15 June 2021 (update)

Interim recommendations for the use of the Janssen Ad26.COV2.S (COVID-19) vaccine - Interim guidance - 15 June 2021 (update)

Interim recommendations for use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, BNT162b2, under Emergency Use Listing - Interim guidance - 15 June 2021 (update)

• UPDATED AstraZeneca vaccine explainer AR CH EN FR PT RU SP
• UPDATED Pfizer vaccine explainer EN FR
• Sinopharm vaccine explainer AR CH EN FR PT RU SP
• Sinovac vaccine explainer EN

• Health Worker Communication Flow Diagram AR CH EN FR PT RU SP
• Supportive supervision for COVID-19 vaccination AR CH EN FR SP RU
• UPDATED How to manage COVID-19 vaccines without a vaccine vial monitor at vaccination service points? EN  

Vaccine safety

Check out the Vaccine safety poster for health workers on how to monitor and report COVID-19 vaccine side effects.

The recognizing anaphylaxis training video provides a brief overview on how to recognize anaphylaxis versus an immunization stress-related response, and the identifying and managing anaphylaxis training video explains how to manage anaphylaxis.

Also available online:

• Guidance for clinical case management of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) following vaccination to prevent coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Interim guidance, 19 July 2021
• WHO COVID-19 vaccine safety surveillance manual: NEW pregnancy module

Vaccine effectiveness

NEW Addendum: Guidance on Conducting Vaccine Effectiveness evaluations in the setting of new SARS-CoV-2 variants. This resource addresses specific issues to consider when evaluating COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness using observational study designs in the setting of new SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Training opportunities

Please join the WHO Costing, Budgeting, Financing and Delivery of COVID-19 Vaccines webinars, with interpretation into French and Spanish. 

Upcoming sessions: 

• July 28: COVID-19 Vaccination: Costing for scale-up (15:00 - 16:30 CET)
• Aug 25: Financing alone is not enough - planning & executing on the budget (12:00 - 13:00 CET)

Register here 
 

Access session materials and recordings here

Access TechNet21 for webinar materials and discussion fora

Mini-cPIE (COVID-19 vaccination IAR) Clinic 1 

Join the experience sharing clinic on how countries are reviewing their COVID-19 vaccine roll-out through WHO COVID-19 vaccination intra-action review (IAR), also known as mini-cPIE.

When: 28 July 12:30-1:30 pm CET with interpretation into French and Spanish.

Register here

Have questions or suggestions?

Consultation on COVID-19 vaccines research

When: 13th August, 1:00-5:00 pm CET

The objective of this consultation is to review the available evidence on the efficacy and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines being deployed in terms of:

• Emerging variants effect on protection levels
• Duration of protection
• Safety of booster vaccines
• Research to evaluate various delivery strategies

Register here 

Call for experts

The WHO is inviting anyone interested in serving on the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization to consider applying for inclusion on the newly established SAGE Roster. This call seeks to identify candidates that can be retained in a roster of experts from which a selection for new SAGE members could take place as the need arises.  

Deadline for applications: 10 Sep 2021

Learn more

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