An Innovative Vaccinator Training Program

Vaccinations offer the only real resolution to the pandemic. Masks and distance help keep the virus at bay, but they are not long-term solutions. Effective vaccines are now reaching millions in high-income countries, and, in time, they will reach underserved regions. The missing link in the vaccination chain will be trained people to administer them in local communities. Without trained workers, vaccination programs grind to a halt. Large organizations and governments can provide the vaccines, but where will low-resource countries find enough trained people to vaccinate the population? The objective of the program described here is to train people at the local level to move vaccines safely from central drop-off points to communities, to prepare the communities for vaccinations, to properly screen patients, to administer vaccinations, to monitor patients after the shot for adverse effects following injection (AEFI) and to educate the community on the need to get vaccinated and on vaccine safety. This program trains grassroots vaccinators to perform these tasks and offers refresher training to retired medical professionals called back into service to help with vaccinations. Each vaccinator will receive 20 hours of WiRED’s curriculum based on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) vaccination protocols. Further, students will receive an additional 20 hours of instruction on basic health, including human anatomy and physiology, principles of infectious disease control, and coronavirus infections. These frontline workers also will receive an additional five hours of clinical vaccination practice.