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.

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Vaccination
General information
Vaccines
Issues

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

1947 New York City Smallpox scare
Main article: 1947 New York City smallpox outbreak

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.[1]

Polio

A mass vaccination campaign for Polio began in 1954 shortly after the Polio vaccine’s invention.[2] In the years following its distribution, the number of Polio cases around the world dropped.[3] Elvis Presley took the vaccine publicly in order to encourage others to do the same [4]

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.[5]

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.[6]

In the United States, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell offered the league’s 30 stadiums as mass vaccination sites.[7] As of April 2021, NFL stadiums have administered more than 2 million doses.[8]

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.[9]

References
  1. Florio, John; Shapiro, Ouisie (December 18, 2020). "How New York City Vaccinated 6 Million People in Less Than a Month" – via NYTimes.com.
  2. Sutter, R. W.; Maher, C. (June 19, 2006). "Mass vaccination campaigns for polio eradication: an essential strategy for success". Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology. 304: 195–220. doi:10.1007/3-540-36583-4_11. PMID 16989271 – via PubMed.
  3. "Children receive first polio vaccine". HISTORY.
  4. Sick, Chelsea (December 15, 2020). "Polio vs. COVID-19, the history of mass vaccination campaigns". WRGT.
  5. Wikipedia Foundation, Vaccination, last updated 8 February 2022, accessed 28 February 2022
  6. Otte, J., London stadiums host ‘super Saturday’ of mass rapid Covid vaccinations, published 19 June 2021, accessed 28 February 2022
  7. "NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell writes to President Biden offering all stadiums as vaccine sites". NFL.com.
  8. "NFL stadiums, facilities hit 2 million COVID-19 vaccines administered". NFL.com.
  9. Cabinet Office, COVID-19 Response: Living with COVID-19, updated 23 February 2022, accessed 28 February 2022
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