COVID-19 vaccination training for health workers

Course information

This course is also available in the following languages:

Bahasa Indonesia - македонски - Русский - 中文- Tiếng Việt- العربية - Español - Nederlands - français - Português - Казақ тілі - ၽႃႇသႃႇတႆး - မြန်မာစာ - ကညီစှီၤကျိာ်

Overview: WHO is working in collaboration with scientists, businesses and global health organizations to speed up the pandemic response and facilitate the equitable access and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. This course provides general information on COVID-19 and specific information on storage, handling and administration of the vaccine, recording and monitoring including for adverse events following immunization (AEFI), and communication (acceptance and demand) through a series of short video lectures and quizzes to test your knowledge. This course is primarily for frontline health workers who will be vaccinators and priority recipients.

Learning objectives: By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• describe the pathogen (SARS-CoV-2) and coronavirus disease (COVID-19);
• explain cold-chain requirements, storage and handling principles for various delivery contexts, and describe options/procedures for waste disposal;
• describe the process of COVID-19 vaccine administration and identify infection prevention and control measures that should be used during vaccination sessions;
• identify an adverse event following immunization and explain how to report AEFI following COVID-19 vaccination;
• recognize recording and registration forms and explain how to track defaulters; and
• demonstrate effective and individualised communications about COVID-19 vaccination.

Course duration: Approximately 3 hours.

Certificates: Participants who score 80% or higher on the course quizzes will receive a Record of Achievement certificate. Participants who receive a Record of Achievement can also download an Open Badge for this course. Click here to learn how.

This course was produced in collaboration with UNICEF. All content has been technically cleared by WHO.

COVID-19 vaccination training for health workers is being translated into Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Indonesian, Khmer, Vietnamese, Macedonian, Kazakh. This page will be updated when new languages are available. You will also be notified by email.

Course contents

• Module 1: Introduction to COVID-19 vaccination training:

  This is an introduction to the course, the objective of which is to provide key information on COVID-19 vaccination to health workers/vaccinators.

• Module 2: Storage, handling, delivery, and waste management of COVID-19 vaccines:

  This module consists of three sections, which provide knowledge about: the programmatic implications of COVID-19 vaccines; managing storage, transport, and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines; cold-chain management at the vaccination post and waste management at the facility level.

• Module 3: Organizing COVID-19 vaccination sessions:

  By the end of this module, you should be able to: outline infection prevention and control measures during vaccination sessions to protect health workers, vaccine recipients, and the community; describe how you prepare for vaccination sessions according to infection prevention and control protocols (at the health facility, for outreach, and for a campaign); and outline the process of safe COVID-19 vaccine administration and waste disposal.

• Module 4: AEFI monitoring for COVID-19 vaccination:

  By the end of this module, you should be able to: identify an adverse event following immunization (AEFI); describe how to identify and respond to AEFI; and explain how to report AEFI following COVID-19 vaccination.

• Module 5: Recording and monitoring COVID-19 vaccination:

  By the end of this module, you should be able to: explain the importance of proper recording and reporting; recognize recording and registration forms; correctly record vaccination data and register vaccinations in the reporting forms; and explain how to track defaulters (if applicable).

• Module 6: Communication with the community about COVID-19 vaccination:

  By the end of this module, you should be able to: describe health workers' roles and responsibilities for COVID-19 vaccination; demonstrate effective and individualised communications about COVID-19 vaccination; explain communication strategies for three potential scenarios with community members; and explain the role of a vaccinator in crisis communication for adverse events following immunization (AEFI).