COVID vaccination: What's next?

Dr Catherine Heffernan looks at the story so far, and what the future holds for the COVID-19 vaccine rollout

Delivering routine immunisations in London during the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons for future vaccine delivery. A mixed-methods study.

BACKGROUND: General practices in England have continued to care for patients throughout the COVID-19 pandemic by instigating major changes to service delivery. Immunisations have continued, although the number of vaccines delivered initially dropped in April 2020. AIM: To evaluate how COVID-19 impacted the delivery of immunisations in London and identify innovative practices to inform future delivery, including for COVID-19 vaccines. DESIGN & SETTING: A mixed-methods study of immunisation delivery in London, UK. METHOD: An online survey of London general practices was undertaken in May 2020 to produce a descriptive analysis of childhood immunisation delivery and identify innovative delivery models. Semi-structured interviews were conducted between August and November 2020 to explore innovative immunisation models, which were analysed thematically. RESULTS: Sixty-eight per cent (n = 830) of London practices completed the survey and 97% reported having continued childhood immunisation delivery. Common delivery adaptations included spaced-out appointments, calling parents beforehand, and having only one parent attend. Forty-three practices were identified as having innovative models, such as delivering immunisations outside practice buildings or offering drive-through services. The thematic analysis of 14 semi-structured interviews found that, alongside adaptations to immunisation delivery within practices, existing local networks collaborated to establish new immunisation delivery models. Local population characteristics affected delivery and provide insights for large-scale vaccine deployment. CONCLUSION: Immunisations continued during 2020 with practices adapting existing services. New delivery models were developed by building on existing local knowledge, experiences, and networks. Immunisation delivery during the pandemic, including for COVID-19 vaccines, should be tailored to local population needs by building on primary care immunisation expertise.

Measles, mumps, rubella prevention: how can we do better?

INTRODUCTION: Measles, mumps, and rubella incidence decreased drastically following vaccination programs' implementation. However, measles and mumps' resurgence was recently reported, outbreaks still occur, and challenges remain to control these diseases. AREAS COVERED: This qualitative narrative review provides an objective appraisal of the literature regarding current challenges in controlling measles, mumps, rubella infections, and interventions to address them. EXPERT OPINION: While vaccines against measles, mumps, and rubella (including trivalent vaccines) are widely used and effective, challenges to control these diseases are mainly related to insufficient immunization coverage and changing vaccination needs owing to new global environment (e.g. traveling, migration, population density). By understanding disease transmission peculiarities by setting, initiatives are needed to optimize vaccination policies and increase vaccination coverage, which was further negatively impacted by COVID-19 pandemic. Also, awareness of the potential severity of infections and the role of vaccines should increase. Reminder systems, vaccination of disadvantaged, high-risk and difficult-to-reach populations, accessibility of vaccination, healthcare infrastructure, and vaccination services management should improve. Outbreak preparedness should be strengthened, including implementation of high-quality surveillance systems to monitor epidemiology. While the main focus should be on these public health initiatives to increase vaccination coverage, slightly more benefits could come from evolution of current vaccines.

PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARYWhat is the context?Measles, mumps, and rubella are highly contagious diseases associated with significant medical and societal burden. Effective vaccines against these diseases are available, and the implementation of vaccination programs drastically reduced disease incidence globally. However, reports of measles and mumps outbreaks in the last few years highlight remaining challenges to eliminate these diseases.What does the review highlight?We conducted a literature review to identify challenges associated with controlling measles, mumps, and rubella infections, and interventions needed to address them. We identified 11 challenges mainly related to low immunization coverage and vaccine characteristics. Societal challenges could be addressed by increasing awareness of disease severity and vaccines impact, targeting high-risk, unvaccinated, and under-vaccinated populations, improving vaccination access, setting up clear outbreak preparedness plans, and implementing country-specific vaccination policies. System weaknesses could be addressed through improving vaccination services and health infrastructure, implementing high-quality surveillance, patient invite, and reminder systems, ensuring vaccine implementation and long-term supply. Interventions related to vaccine characteristic challenges could include adaptation of vaccination schedules (shorter interval between doses, administration of a third dose) and development of vaccines against emerging strains.What is the take-home message?Policymakers should support the following strategies to increase vaccination coverage and reach elimination of measles, mumps, and rubella: strengthening health systems and vaccination access; raising awareness of disease severity and vaccination impact; limiting disease propagation owing to global changing environment and population dynamics (traveling, migration); improving surveillance systems to rapidly address the immunity gaps against disease resurgence.

The ‘new normal’: delivering childhood immunisations during the COVID-19 pandemic

Maintaining good coverage of childhood immunisations is vital. Dr Catherine Heffernan explains how practices in the London region are delivering a safe service to families