Managing the Challenges Associated with Decreasing Demand for COVID-19 Vaccination in Central and West Asia

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Understanding the challenges and risks associated with decreasing demand for COVID-19 vaccination in Central and West Asia.

HOW YOU CAN USE THIS MATERIAL:

Countries need to adopt different strategies across each of these demand phases to ensure effective use and minimal wastage of COVID-19 vaccines. Stakeholders can use the risks, challenges, and strategies described in this paper to determine which demand phase their country is currently in and tailor interventions to ensure vaccine uptake.

OVERVIEW:

During the early stages of COVID-19 vaccination programmes, the rate of vaccine uptake was determined by number of COVID-19 vaccines approved for use and the manufacturing capacity of the manufacturers of these vaccines. It is a very different situation in 2022, where COVID-19 vaccination coverage is no longer determined by access to supply and manufacturers are reducing or stopping production of vaccines completely. Uptake of COVID-19 vaccination in 2022 is dependent on complex issues like vaccine hesitancy. This paper focuses on the Central and West Asia region, where the authors have been supporting COVID-19 vaccination programmes across seven countries in this region. This paper outlines and describes the different phases of demand for COVID-19 vaccination, as well as the risks and strategies to consider in each of these phases.

Key Messages

  • There have been three distinct demand phases for the COVID-19 vaccine since first administrations in December 2020.

  • The first phase was defined by high demand and low supply, the second phase as a period of high demand and high supply, and the third phase as a period of high supply and low demand.

  • Countries need to adopt different strategies across each of these demand phases to ensure effective use and minimal wastage of COVID-19 vaccines.

  • The extent to which vaccine hesitancy and vaccine nationalism feature in different regions is dependent on the demand phase being experienced.

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