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Consultants - Support preparedness of COVID-19 vaccines deployment

Kuala Lumpur

  • Organization: WHO - World Health Organization
  • Location: Kuala Lumpur
  • Grade: Consultancy - International Consultant - Internationally recruited Contractors Agreement
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Public Health and Health Service
    • Disaster Management (Preparedness, Resilience, Response and Recovery)
    • Ebola
    • Emergency Aid and Response
    • Malaria, Tuberculosis and other infectious diseases
  • Closing Date: Closed

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  1. BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant morbidities and mortalities globally, affecting not only the health of people but also economies and whole societies that people have never experienced in decades. One key measure to solve or mitigate this impact is the COVID-19 vaccines, which have been developed by multiple pharmaceutical companies and rolled out globally since early 2021. Those vaccines demonstrated a significant reduction in severity and deaths due to COVID-19 infection. As all COVID-19 vaccines are novel and authorized for emergency use, agile but detail-oriented planning and coordination were critically important for successful introduction, which was learnt from experiences of previous pandemic influenza virus in 2009. WHO has been supporting countries in collaboration with UNICEF, Gavi and other development partners for the deployment of the COVID-19 vaccine over the past year.

In 2022, the COVID-19 vaccination continues to play a critical role in suppressing the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 while reopening the economic activities as a key part of the sustained management of the COVID-19 pandemic. MOHs still need efforts to identify and reach the unvaccinated population in the last miles of the COVID-19 vaccine deployment. The strategic communication with the public on COVID-19 vaccines should be planned for benefits-risks of the immunization, including a crisis setting for vaccine confidence. Also, the efficacy and safety evaluation should be strengthened by outlining the current system of diseases surveillance, pharmacovigilance and system for reporting, monitoring and response to adverse events, including AEFIs with a set of recommended indicators for COVID-19 vaccines.

  1. PURPOSE/SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE OF THE ACTIVITY

The short-term consultant is expected to support the WHO Country Office in Malaysia in supporting the Government of Malaysia, Brunel Darussalam and Singapore, represented by the Ministries of Health (MOHs), to help prepare for COVID-19 vaccines deployment, which enables the targeted population in those countries to receive immunization as soon as the vaccine products become nationally available.

  1. DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES TO BE CARRIED OUT

The selected consultant will work with MOH and relevant government entities in Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Singapore to perform the following activities:

Activity 1: Support the revision and implementation of the COVID-19 National Deployment and Vaccination Plan (NDVP)

  • Support MOHs and relevant government bodies to devise a plan on practical deployment and service delivery of COVID-19 vaccines.
  • Support to determine the prioritized target populations to be immunized with the COVID-19 vaccines in line with SAGE recommendations and provide revision as new evidence becomes available
  • Support the monitoring and evaluation of the COVID-19 NDVP Implementation, including safety surveillance monitoring and response
  • Support to reach the unvaccinated population in the last miles of the vaccine deployment, such as the vulnerable groups, in collaboration with relevant stakeholders (e.g., UN Country Team, NGOs)
  • Provision of support to national health authorities on COVID-19 vaccination for children aged 5-11 years old
  • Provision of technical advice to national health authorities on issues related to booster dose vaccination as recommended by the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization and its COVID-19 Vaccines Working Group, based on the summary and contextualization of current evidence on booster vaccination
  • Any other matter(s) related to COVID-19 vaccination as determined by the WCO COVID-19 Incident Manager and technical supervisors in the WHO Regional Office.

Activity 2: Technical support for communication plans implementation to the public on the targeted populations, benefits and risks of COVID-19 vaccines

  • Contribute to creating technical content for messages to the public of reasons for selecting the targeted populations with the COVID-19 vaccines.
  • Support to generate and disseminate information addressing the benefits and risks of the COVID-19 vaccines in collaboration with risk communication experts in/outside of the Organization.
  • Closely work with communication experts for crisis communication in case of any events leading to decreased vaccine confidence in the public.
  • Support the strategic communication and community engagements to address vaccine hesitancy among unvaccinated people in the last miles.

Activity 3: Technical support for maintaining essential health services during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in the routine immunization program

  • Support to strengthen routine immunization and vaccine-preventable disease (VPD) surveillance amid the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Provide support to scale up the routine immunization for the vulnerable population, including undocumented migrants and stateless children, to mitigate risks of Polio and other VPD outbreaks
  • Foster the integration of the COVID-19 vaccine deployment with the routine immunization programme and other public health programmes
  • Support the cross-border collaboration between Malaysia-Indonesia-Philippines to mitigate the risk of Polio, Measles and other VPDs.

Outputs and deliverables

Output 1: Guide the revision and implementation of COVID-19 NDVP.

Deliverable 1: A concept note (i) outlining key strategic changes to NDVP and conduct monitoring and evaluation of the COVID-19 NDVP implementation with responsible ministries, WHO, UNICEF and other partners.

Output 2: Providing guidance to a communication plan on any aspects of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Deliverable 2: A guidance report including key strategic directions and activity plans on the communication of the COVID-19 vaccines with responsible ministries, WHO, UNICEF and other partners.

Output 3: Technical support for maintaining essential health services during pandemic COVID-19, particularly in the routine immunization program

Deliverable 3: A joint concept note between MOH, WHO, UNICEF and other partners agencies to support reaching the unreached population, including undocumented migrants and stateless children, through the scaled-up vaccination programme in line with the regional strategic framework for VPD and immunization in the WP 2021-2030

  1. METHODS TO CARRY OUT THE ACTIVITY

As above # 3

  1. QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

EDUCATION

Essential: A university degree in medicine (mandatory), An advanced university degree in public health (preferred), epidemiology and related fields.

EXPERIENCE

Essential: A minimum of five years of experience in implementing and/or supporting immunization programmes. Experience in COVID-19 vaccination deployment, such as for health care workers or vulnerable groups, is an asset.

TECHNICAL SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge and skills in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating immunization programmes. Technical understanding of COVID-19 vaccines and their rollout is an asset.

LANGUAGES
Fluency in English (reading, writing, and speaking). Knowledge in Bahasa Melayu is an asset

COMPETENCIES

  • Communicating in a credible and effective way.
  • Producing results.
  • Moving forward in a changing environment.
  • Fostering integration and teamwork
  • Knowing and managing yourself.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

  1. Medical clearance
    Individual consultants have to provide WHO fitness for work form from their physician.

  2. Travel
    An internationally recruited consultant is requested to travel from the country of residence to the duty station.

  • WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter into practice.
  • WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of final candidates.
This vacancy is now closed.
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