“Flying a plane and building it at the same time”: Lessons learned from the dynamic implementation of mass vaccination clinics in the Region of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Health Research Policy and Systems

Research

Kelly Grindrod¹  Nancy Waite¹  Moses Tetui²  Maisha Adil³  Arthi Bala³  Ryan Tennant⁴  Catherine Burns⁴ 

[1] School of Pharmacy, University of Waterloo, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada;School of Pharmacy, University of Waterloo, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada;School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada;Department of Epidemiology and Global Health, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden;School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada;Systems Design Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada;

关键词: COVID-19 pandemic;    Mass vaccination clinics;    Dynamic implementation;    Multi-disciplinary teams;    Rapid evolution;    Unpredictable;    Adaptable;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12961-023-01036-z

 received in 2022-12-15, accepted in 2023-08-12,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundVaccination plays a critical role during pandemics, and mass vaccination clinics are often an imperative public health measure. These clinics usually consist of multi-disciplinary teams, which can pose significant coordination challenges, yet also present an opportunity for collectively contributing towards mitigating the impact of infection within communities. This study explores the coordination dynamics of the Region of Waterloo’s coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) mass vaccination clinics in Ontario, Canada, between July 2021 and April 2022.MethodsThis qualitative study included 16 purposively selected participants working in mass vaccination clinics. Participants were individually interviewed for 40–60 min. An inductive and iterative thematic analysis was undertaken, including open coding, grouping, labelling, regrouping and making sense of the themes.ResultsThree interrelated themes were created: (1) unpredictable work environment, which was comprised of changing clinic processes and the impact of clinic adjustments to the running of the clinics; (2) clinic cohesion challenges, which included staff role disparities, limited job preparation and clinic system silos; and (3) adaptable and supportive work environment, which was comprised of staff adaptability, dispositional flexibility and a supportive work environment. While the first two themes created a precarious situation in the clinics, the third countered it, leading to a largely successful clinic implementation.ConclusionsThe rapid evolution and high transmissibility of COVID-19 in communities required a public health response that felt like flying and building a plane simultaneously – a seemingly impossible yet necessary task. However, an adaptable and supportive work environment was critical for establishing an atmosphere that can overcome challenges from a constantly changing pandemic and the guidance of public health officials. Such lessons gained from understanding the dynamic experiences in mass vaccination clinics are essential for improving the development and operation of future immunization campaigns.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2023

【 图 表 】

Fig. 2