Working Towards the 'Big Catch-up': Introducing the COVID-19 Recovery for Routine Immunization Programs Fellowship

The Sabin Vaccine Institute’s Boost Community and the World Health Organization recently led a new training program – the COVID-19 Recovery for Routine Immunization Programs Fellowship – to help national and sub-national immunization professionals plan and implement immunization programming during this COVID-19 recovery period, with the ultimate goal of strengthening routine immunization. More than 500 fellows joined the cohort last May, which involved a live engagement series and a final assignment to craft and submit for review and feedback a strategic proposal for implementation or case study for publication.

Thirty fellows representing 22 counties were selected to take the next step to carry out their strategic proposals from August 2022 to March 2023, with the assistance of a mentor and in some cases a modest stipend. Nearly half of these projects focused on reducing zero-dose children, with others focused on topics such as catch-up vaccination, vaccine hesitancy and demand and life course integration. 

Upon completion, nearly 90% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that the fellowship increased their capacity to strengthen, administer and manage routine immunization programs during COVID-19 recovery. One participant said,

“The [fellowship] has increased my capacity to reach and strengthen many communities' routine immunization programs. For instance, through the program, Safara community’s long years of pending vaccine hesitancy was revisited and resolved. Health workers can now access the community and vaccinate missed children including zero-dose.”

Initial results have been promising, and we look forward to sharing these success stories and technical case studies in the coming weeks, so please stay tuned!