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Over this last year, countries around the world have been forced to focus most of their efforts on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, potentially leaving other health priorities, including routine immunization, to fall by the wayside. To understand COVID-19’s full impact(i) The total, direct and indirect, effects of a programme, service or institution on a health status and overall health and socio‐economic on routine immunization, we must look at how countries have modified routine immunization service deliveryAn immediate output of inputs placed into a health system, such as health workforce, procurement, supplies and finances. and financingThe resources required to deliver public health functions to populations, the impact of those resources on the health of those populations, and and trends in vaccine coverageA proportion (%) that reflects the number of people receiving (an) intervention(s) divided by the total number of people eligible to receive. We must then consider future systemic improvements to further strengthen immunization programs and increase their resiliency in the face of future shocks to the system.
The experiences of Armenia, Georgia, and Uzbekistan provide an opportunity to understand the key challenges that countries in the European region have encountered with maintaining routine immunization during the COVID-19 pandemic and the strategies they implemented to address these challenges. This document shares some of the key takeaways.