Home » COVID-19 Vaccination Response & Knowledge Management » Key COVID-19 Vaccination Insights and Lessons Learned

The COVID-19 pandemic presented significant challenges for health systems worldwide, as they struggled to allocate limited resources to both routine programs and pandemic-related needs. Health workers were not only a high-priority group for COVID-19 vaccination themselves but they also played a crucial role in administering COVID-19 vaccinations to the general population through mass vaccination campaigns.

Given their prominent role in response efforts, Knowledge SUCCESS conducted an assessment to document lessons learned and effective practices in COVID-19 vaccination of health workers, with a specific focus on Africa. This assessment includes insights from of 38 participants representing 26 USAID-funded COVID-19 implementing partners from 17 countries.

The findings identified contributing factors to vaccine hesitancy among health workers and include lessons learned vaccinating health workers from COVID-19 and their role in vaccinating their clients.

We hope the findings of this assessment will assist COVID-19 vaccine Implementing partners, governments, and institutions in identifying, documenting, and applying lessons learned to inform current and future public health emergencies.

Knowledge SUCCESS hosted an Anglophone Learning Circles workshop in Tanzania in March 2023, followed by a Francophone Learning Circles workshop in Senegal in April 2023.

Using a mix of facilitated plenary and small-group knowledge management activities, this cohort focused on Reaching High Priority Populations with COVID-19 Vaccination.  

Knowledge SUCCESS worked with the USAID COVID Response Team to identify two individuals from implementing partner organizations per country in East, Central, and West Africa to attend the two regional workshops. This Team identified implementing partners as key participants given their experience implementing or managing USAID-funded COVID-19 vaccination efforts among high priority populations. The event aimed to: 

• Provide practical knowledge regarding COVID-19 vaccine programs; 
• Strengthen connections among USAID implementing partners and USAID Missions; 
• Create practical and realistic action plans to address unique challenges faced by participants or to amplify what’s already working well; and 
• Synthesize lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic that could be applied to future pandemics. 

The reports details the different knowledge management and behavioral science approaches used during sessions to facilitate knowledge exchange and learning among participants, and the key learnings attained as a result. The report also describes action plans that participants and USAID Mission representatives developed to apply the lessons learned from successful COVID-19 vaccine program implementation to challenges that may be faced in future emergencies.