On Friday, July 17, 2020, International Health Economics Association (iHEA) hosted a webinar titled “Developing Strategies for Effective and Efficient Immunization Against COVID-19.” The discussion centered on the challenges that will likely plague immunization strategies once a COVID-19 vaccine is available. These include the inability of current manufacturing capacities to meet the global demand, distributional challenges in the supply chain, tiered pricing of vaccines across countries, and unequal benefits from vaccination in the population. How can health economists help policymakers rise to the challenge? The webinar focused on three main aspects with regards to defining capacities in economics that the countries need to invest in for the most effective and efficient immunization strategy.
The panel of speakers moderated by Dr. David Bishai, presented their perspectives on the issues, and provided recommendations on which is the most cost-effective and equitable way to finance and distribute vaccinations.
Any organization or individual working in the field of immunization economics can submit findings, opportunities, calls to action, or other relevant work below to be shared with our community.