MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity Semi-Annual Report

The report covers the period from October 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021. Key activities launched and implementation underway include preparatory steps toward completion of a COVID-19 briefer for USAID Missions. The team made notable progress on a monograph focused on life-course vaccination and applying lessons from introducing human papillomavirus and other vaccines to COVID-19 vaccination. A literature review and methodology to use the Photovoice approach for community engagement were also conducted to understand and address challenges for reaching zero-dose and under-immunized children, families, and communities. The project participated in global and regional working groups to support the introduction of COVID-19 vaccination, including pre-review and feedback of the National Deployment and Vaccination Plans (NDVPs) from 14 countries. The project contributed to global and regional developments and brought the latest knowledge to technical support to countries and USAID. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the project provided information to support real-time decision-making about COVID-19 vaccines. The project developed root cause analysis (RCA) diagrams of entrenched obstacles to domestic financing, supply chain, and accountability (governance). The team conducted a literature review and drafted a supply chain equity maturity model that will be reviewed by partners and tested in countries. Country briefs for USAID Missions summarizing key routine immunization (RI) issues were also begun, with the first brief drafted for Nigeria. The project conducted a landscape of global, regional, and country professional associations and mapped potential roles for associations to support rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. The team engaged with stakeholders within and beyond the project’s consortium to define our approach to strategic partnerships and drafted a strategic partnerships framework focused on engaging non-health partners. The team drafted the MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity gender strategy based on an extensive literature review and consultation with colleagues within the project’s consortium, USAID, and global partners. The project responded to comments on the initial submission of the Activity Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan (AMELP) and received USAID final approval in April. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity team established its official relationship with the Ministry of Health’s Programme Elargi de Vaccination (PEV). The project identified four target provinces and adapted tools to apply RCAs and other human-centered design (HCD) techniques to understand persistent challenges to RI and co-create approaches to overcome those challenges through a longer-term implementation phase work plan. The official project launch took place on February 23 and 24, 2021, and was an opportunity to further develop RCAs, which will serve as a basis for a “living RCA” to be iterated upon through the qualitative data collection and co-creation workshops planned for Q3. The team provided technical assistance to preparations for the launch of the COVID-19 vaccine, including support for the NDVP, priority population identification, and development of operational plans. The project contributed to cross-MOMENTUM abstracts as well as several blogs in anticipation of World Immunization Week in April. The team developed internal processes and tools to support adaptive learning and contributed to the development of an analytical framework for redesigning health services in light of COVID-19.