Duration

2020 Onwards

Key Partners

Immunization Division, MoHFW, BMGF, UNICEF

Funder

BMGF

Government of India, in order to make the health system resilient to withstand future surges and outbreaks and ensure fast -track delivery of COVID-19 related vaccination and other services with potential to meet people’s needs, rolled out specific programmes with the support of partner agencies. Towards this end, JSIPL provided technical support to MoHFW and other government constituted bodies, such as the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC), Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) to strengthen various aspects of the COVID-19 rollout.

Addressing Gaps and Challenges

High levels of vaccine hesitancy due to ignorance, technology-related hiccups and impact of fake news/inaccurate information leading to apprehension and fear about vaccines. Delays and overlaps in vaccine safety surveillance systems at state and district levels.
Gaps noted in monitoring Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) following COVID-19 vaccination. Difficulty in accessing the vaccine in remote pockets due to issues of access.

Key Objectives

To provide urgent and timely technical support to MoHFW to accelerate pace of COVID-19 vaccination.

To work closely with immunization partners to speed up implementation and scale- up of COVID-19 vaccine activities.

To prioritize those living in hard-to-reach areas and vulnerable population groups.

JSIPL’s role in implementing COVID-19 activities

JSIPL provided techno-managerial support to MoHFW in three areas that included technical assistance through capacity building, monitoring and review, data management and analysis, and communications and media management support. As a national secretariat, JSIPL (through ITSU) provided technical support to the National AEFI Committee and MoHFW to manage AEFI surveillance and strengthen vaccine safety. As key member of the core group for COVID-19 communication, constituted by MoHFW, JSIPL contributed to developing a comprehensive communication strategy for COVID-19 vaccine and finalizing an implementation plan in collaboration with BMGF and UNICEF.

Achievements

Setting up a special COVID-19 Vaccine Support Cell with Control Room to assist Immunization Division for COVID-19 vaccine preparedness and roll-out and management of AEFI surveillance.
Providing technical and strategic guidance with Operational Guidelines and Training modules for upgrading skills and capacities of the health workforce.
Undertaking a study on Adverse Events of Special Interest (AESI) sentinel surveillance for COVID-19 vaccines by establishing a network of tertiary care hospitals as sentinel surveillance sites to assess excess risk of adverse events due to COVID-19 vaccines.
Creating an enabling environment through social and behavior change communication (SBCC) campaigns and media advocacy.

Looking Ahead

Going forward, support will continue to be extended to all aspects of vaccine scale-up. This will include improving inter-ministerial coordination by mapping line ministries and dove-tailing their activities with the latest developments in the COVID-19 vaccine program.

Social mobilization will be further refined in line with changes made in the implementation strategy. This will help saturate coverage and handhold those still struggling with access to the vaccine.

COVID-19 Vaccine Roll-out

Addressing Gaps and Challenges

JSIPL’s role in implementing COVID-19 activities

Achievements

Looking Ahead