The Linked Immunisation Action Network has launched a new podcast on overcoming immunization health care worker shortages due to COVID-19. The pandemic has resulted in staff being reassigned and having to accommodate a higher workload, both of which have contributed to disruption in the delivery of routine immunization services.
This podcast episode features a conversation with three global immunisation experts to discuss solutions and best practices that countries around the world have employed to overcome or mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and the pandemic response on routine immunisation services.
Key messages from the discussion:
To prevent, diagnose, and treat COVID-19 while meeting the demands of routine immunisation activities, many countries sought to add more frontline health workers to their workforce.
The challenge all countries faced was to reorient existing health workers while not worsening working conditions by increasing workload, working hours, and the risks to the well-being of health workers.
Countries that had quality health workforce data readily available were able to mobilize and adapt more quickly to the needs of the pandemic.
Solutions adopted by some countries to strengthen the mental health support provided to health workers include the creation of mental support phone lines, media campaigns to reduce the stigma associated with seeking and accessing support services, and institutional programmes to support mental health and manage stress.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to urgently address the health workforce challenges that previously existed – to invest in new skills development, to increase the availability of health workers, decrease inequities in the distribution of the health workforce, and improve how they deliver health services.
