Pandemic-related resilience in HPV vaccination programmes – Perspectives from selected countries in Africa on what it will take to vaccinate 90 % of girls by 2030
Kouakou Séraphin Kouassi, Eric Chisupa, Adolphus Clarke, Innocent Massenon, Christine Miano, Faith Mutuku, Sarah Wanyoike, Mutale Mumba, Raabi Diouf, Chris Morgan, Mary Carol Jennings
Abstract
• The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted HPV vaccination particularly. • School closures and targeted misinformation were damaging. • Successful recovery efforts needed new relationships and investments. • Key allies were education sector and professional societies. • Key investments were tailored service intensification and communications. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in widespread disruptions to primary health care and other sectors, halting the majority of routine immunisation services and particularly impacting newer, less routinized HPV vaccine programmes. We present a series of five country case studies, drawing directly from frontline experiences in Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Liberia, Zambia, and Senegal to explore potential barriers and enablers of national HPV vaccine programme resiliency in the aftermath of a pandemic. A series of common themes emerged, articulating common challenges to maintaining HPV vaccine programmes, common factors that supported programme resilience, and common themes of resource needs to rebuild stronger routine immunisation programmes to face future threats.