Objective:

describe the CHLA-EP work within the National Vaccination Plan COVID-19’s Strategy.

Material and methods:

descriptive analysis of the CHLA-EP reports and communication as well as reports from the Epidemiology Division of the Ministry of Public Health (MSP).

Results:

1) Review and training on the vaccines being developed and arriving to Uruguay: Pfizer BioNtech, CoronaVac, Oxford AZ; characteristics and action mechanisms, efficacy/effectiveness, side effects, target population, costs, use of personal protective equipment;

2) Provision of the vaccines’ warehousing site, conservation and storage, cold chain and distribution national strategies as the characteristics of each biological product and required training to achieve a solid and seamless cold chain;

3) Planning: weekly strategy meetings with the Immunization Unit of the Ministry of Public Health as well as with government members. Survey of existing vaccination clinics, creation of COVID vaccination clinics, provision of human and material resources, new contracts, survey of priority individuals regarding their risk of acquiring COVID and dying (long-stay facilities and caregivers, hemodialysis patients, complex heart diseases, transplant recipients, patients with low mobility, carriers of Down Syndrome, haemato-oncological, diabetic, obese patients);

4) Training by roles (registration staff and vaccinators, vaccine preparers, administrators, job references, backup), training in vial handling and dosage (via zoom at country level), participation in a PAHO training course;

5) Support/advertising material and audiovisual media: COVID-19 Campaign Logo design, presentations for training and updating, audiovisual material, technical sheets for platforms, post-vaccination observation sheets, quick guides for the registration and saving of vaccination agreements, labels and identification design and materials differentiation for the Pfizer vaccine, video tutorial for the download and correct use of APP VA-QMed. Since the beginning of the SARS CoV 2 pandemic in 2020, the CHLA-EP organized, planned, executed and supervised different activities (E.g.: the 2020 campaign against Influenza) before the COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy that began on 2/27/21, it was universal (people> 12 years of age), fast and safe. As of 6/19/21, 61% of the population received one dose and 39% had received two.

Conclusions:

the CHLA-EP is the organizational and executive agency for national vaccination campaigns, it acts in coordination with its different structures (vaccinators-vaccination sites, Calmette Laboratory). In 2021, it contributed to the success of the MSP’s COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy.

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