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.