In an effort to minimize the impact of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases in schools, WHO Armenia has launched a nationwide Safe Schooling campaign together with the Armenian Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport. The campaign aims to provide clear and actionable guidance for safe operations through prevention, early detection, and control of COVID-19 in educational facilities and promotion of other health-seeking behaviours, including vaccination for this and other diseases.
The campaign is funded by the European Union and is one element of a wider intervention supporting the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines, promoting vaccination against COVID-19, and strengthening the routine immunization system. The initiative is designed to reach teachers, parents, and students with evidence-based information, through workshops and informational materials. The first phase of the campaign focused on protection against COVID-19 and other respiratory pathogens in schools.
“During the workshops, we learned about COVID-19 vaccines and received informational materials that we shared with colleagues, friends, and families,” explains Nina Poghosyan, a school principal working in the Tavush province of Armenia.” Sharing reliable information about COVID-19 and vaccines had been challenging before due to the large amount of misinformation that circulated even within schools and among school staff. Thanks in part to these efforts, I am proud to say that ours was one of the first schools to reach 100% vaccination coverage among its staff,” she adds.
The first phase of the campaign supported the government’s efforts to ensure that schools can remain open for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic so as not to disrupt the education of children and adolescents, following WHO/Europe’s advice for schools to be the last place to shut their doors and the first to reopen during the subsequent waves of COVID-19. To make this happen, the Armenian government ensured that the national vaccination plan included offering the COVID-19 vaccine to teachers and other school staff as one of the priority target population groups.
Increased vaccine uptake among school staff
To begin with, COVID-19 vaccination rates among school staff remained generally low, which was concerning not only because it put the functioning of schools at risk, but also because with an average age of 55 years, many teachers are at increased risk of serious illness. Through the workshops, vaccination experts were able to engage in meaningful conversations with school nurses, teachers, and administrative staff about the importance of vaccinating against COVID-19, influenza and other vaccine-preventable diseases, as well as keeping up with other infection prevention measures, such as hand hygiene practices for staff and students.
Irina Hakobyan, a school nurse with 25 years of experience, emphasizes the project’s importance in promoting continuous learning. “The workshops provided a direct line to the experts and evidence-based knowledge, which was important to better understand the new COVID-19 reality and how to tackle a rapidly changing environment. I would welcome similar initiatives again and know it would benefit many of my colleagues.”
“Teachers are highly respected figures in Armenian society, acting as community opinion leaders,” explains Jihane Tawilah, WHO Representative in Armenia. “This campaign is quite innovative in that WHO Armenia has never worked directly with schools before. By helping school staff to learn more about the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and vaccines against other vaccine-preventable diseases, we are able to reach an even larger number of people with evidence-based information and thus increase vaccine uptake,” says Jihane.
“All the participants were very eager to learn more about how the vaccines were developed, how we know they’re safe and effective, and about any potential side effects. We were mindful to create a space for them to share their doubts freely without judgement, so we could fully address all their questions,” explains Lyudmila Niazyan, WHO Armenia National Professional Officer and the project lead.
“The campaign invited participants from 1500 schools from across the country and trained about 2000 school staff members, who often interact with parents and are therefore able to further promote what they learned,” Lyudmila continues.
Promoting health literacy among children
Following the successful launch of the campaign, the next phase will be expanded to cover other communicable diseases and routine immunizations, such as against measles, rubella, influenza, and human papillomavirus (HPV).
Among the planned activities is rollout of the Immune Patrol – a unique game-based platform developed by WHO/Europe that educates 10–12-year-old students about the immune system and vaccines. The online learning platform combines digital games with physical classroom activities and simulations to showcase how vaccines work, how diseases are transmitted, and how outbreaks occur. It also helps students, the future decision-makers and caregivers, to think critically, assess the trustworthiness of online sources, and build resilience to misinformation about vaccines and other health topics.