The Immunization Agenda 2030: a vision of global impact, reaching all, grounded in the realities of a changing world

Abstract

The launch of the Immunization Agenda 2030 (IA2030) comes at an extraordinary and turbulent time in our collective experience. The COVID-19 pandemic erupted into all our lives, stopping dead in their tracks economies, education systems, human connections and many lives -- lives of persons we loved. It has brought vaccines and immunizations back into the spotlight. In a single year we witnessed the emergence of a novel pathogen, the collective sprint to design, develop, evaluate, and manufacture numerous successful vaccines and deliver hundreds of millions of doses worldwide. This is a testament not only to the power, ingenuity and shared responsibility of collaborative science, but of our shared humanity. The acute phase of the pandemic will be controlled and a return to some sort of new normal will be achieved. COVID-19 vaccines are expected to make a major contribution toward that goal, and this remarkable achievement of vaccine science will need to be accompanied by continued political commitment, global economic partnership, and public engagement. At time of writing, the longer-term trajectory of SARS CoV-2 and the vaccine strategies to constrain its impact are still unfolding, yet it is clear that the global vaccine ecosystem, which touches every community of every country around the world is being put to the test.

Keywords: Immunization

JEL Classification: I1