According to an article published in UN news as countries plan to roll out COVID-19 vaccines in the coming days, weeks and months, health workers and other at-risk populations should be prioritized for vaccination, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.
Execution Plan
The recommendations are based on the so-called Values Framework and Population Prioritization Roadmap, issued by a WHO advisory group on immunization.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
“People at highest risk of serious disease or death as a result of age, are also a high priority group because protecting them will reduce severe disease and death and take the burden off health systems”, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-General, speaking in Geneva.
“In the initial stages of rollout, with only a small proportion of a country’s population immunized, it’s vital that governments, communities and individuals continue using proven public health tools.”
He said WHO continues to work to better understand how many people on the planet have been exposed to the virus, and how long immunity lasts in those who have been infected.
Improving Public Trust on Vaccine
Meanwhile, accurate information about COVID-19 vaccines is vital to improving public knowledge and trust in these treatments as they come on stream, another senior WHO official said, responding to a journalist’s question about vaccine hesitancy.
Dr. Katherine O’Brien Comments
“I think this assessment that people will make about their understanding of the benefits of the vaccine is going to be a critical next phase in the pathway towards having these vaccines be critical tools in the toolbox of the interventions that we have”, said Dr. Katherine O’Brien, Director of the Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals.
Trusted Information
WHO wants the public to be informed about the science behind vaccines, she said, adding trusted sources are also important for communities and individuals making decisions on being vaccinated.
Dr. O’Brien reported that a very robust safety monitoring system is in place as countries begin the rollout of several COVID-19 vaccines which have come through the trial stage.
“That safety system is switched on fully for full coordination across all the different groups – the regulators, the manufacturers, WHO – to be looking at the data in real time, so that if there any signals of concern around the vaccine, we have the ability to look at that, to investigate it and to really understand if there is any issue,” she said.
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Source: UN news
