Mass vaccination

Mass vaccination is a public policy effort to vaccinate a large number of people, possibly the entire population of the world or a country or region, within a short period of time. This policy may be directed during a pandemic, when there is a localised outbreak or scare of a disease for which a vaccine exists, or when a new vaccine is invented.

Under normal circumstances, vaccines are provided as part of an individual's medical care starting from birth and given as part of routine checkups. But there are times when there is a need to vaccinate the population at large and provide easy access to the service. When this occurs, temporary clinics may be established around communities that can efficiently handle the many people within at once.

Challenges of a mass vaccination effort include vaccine supply, logistics, storage, finding vaccinators and other necessary staff, vaccine safety and public outreach.

Historic mass vaccinations

Small Pox

In 1947, after a man traveled from Mexico to New York City and developed smallpox, Dr. Israel Weinstein announced to the residents of New York the need to get vaccinated. Vaccine clinics were established throughout the city and within less than a month, 6,350,000 residents were vaccinated.

The World Health Organization (WHO) developed a plan to eradicate Small Pox in 1959, however a lack of global commitment from countries hindered this campaign, allowing small pox to remain prevalent almost a decade later.

Polio

A mass vaccination campaign for Polio began in 1954 shortly after the Polio vaccine's invention. In 1988, the World Health Assembly decided to make efforts to completely eradicate polio by the year 2000 which led to a large increase in new mass vaccination campaigns. In the years following its distribution, the number of Polio cases around the world dropped. Elvis Presley took the vaccine publicly in order to encourage others to do the same

Swine flu vaccination

In 1976 in the United States, a mass swine flu vaccination programme was discontinued after 362 cases of Guillain–Barré syndrome were identified among 45 million vaccinated people. There are important lessons to be learned from the recent 'Swine Flu' pandemic. Improving techniques are necessary in trying to decrease the spread of infection-both in the community and within our hospitals would mean improving infection control and hygiene, and the use of masks, alcohol hand rubs and so on.

Contemporary usage

A mass vaccination site at a stadium in Salisbury, Maryland

COVID-19

The introduction of multiple COVID-19 vaccines in 2021 led to mass vaccination centers being established at many locations, such as stadiums.

In the United States, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell offered the league's 30 stadiums as mass vaccination sites. As of April 2021, NFL stadiums have administered more than 2 million doses. By December 2021, more than 100,000 people had received vaccinations at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The possibility of future mass vaccination programmes was identified by the UK government as one of the "key capabilities" which may be required in order to allow the country to live with COVID-19.

When vaccinating large populations an action plan must be created to organize which groups will receive the vaccination first. The California Department of Public Health created an action plan to vaccinate by population group. First Immunocompromised groups, second unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated, third under 12 populations, fourth boosters for those 65 and older, and lastly boosters for ages 12-64.