Maldives to conduct evaluation of COVID-19 and HPV vaccination

A brief meeting to mark the start of Maldives Joint COVID-19 and Human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) post-introduction evaluation was recently held. Post-introduction evaluation (PIE) is an exercise carried out after introduction of a new vaccine. In Maldives, HPV vaccine was introduced in 2019 and COVID-19 vaccination was started in Feb 2021. This PIE is conducted to review the implementation of COVID-19 vaccine and HPV vaccine in Maldives. This is the first full (or classic) PIE done for COVID-19 vaccine globally, although some countries have done mini-PIEs which are desk reviews. The international and local teams will visit 7 atolls and visit health facilities, schools and meet community members as well as visit selected resorts from the atolls. The objective of PIE is to assess what went well during the vaccine introduction and roll-out as well as what can be improved. The final outcome will be recommendations from the team to strengthen the vaccination programmes.