Global vaccine safety blueprint 2.0 background research

Overview

In 2012, the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) for 2011-2020 was endorsed by 194 Member States at the World Health Assembly, serving as a framework to guide immunization efforts through 2020. The Global Vaccine Safety Blueprint was created alongside GVAP to set objectives for building the capacity of vaccine safety in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) to better detect, report, and analyse adverse events. As the GVAP comes to an end in 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) is working with stakeholders to develop a new framework, Immunization Agenda 2030, in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the changing immunization landscape. This serves as an opportune time to also evaluate the impact and strategic direction of the Global Vaccine Safety Blueprint and its implementation mechanism, the Global Vaccine Safety Initiative (GVSI). For that purpose, background research was conducted in 2019 to obtain input from vaccine safety experts, national regulatory officials, immunization program managers, global agencies, industry, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and others. This report serves to synthesize the findings of that research and provide recommendations for the drafting of the Global Vaccine Safety Blueprint 2.0. Information collected from more than 200 stakeholders that work in vaccine safety indicated that many of the challenges discovered during the creation of the first Global Vaccine Safety Blueprint in 2011 remain. Additionally, new challenges related to hesitancy and emergencies have arisen, along with opportunities to focus the next iteration of the Blueprint.