The Vaccinodrome: How to Set up the Largest Mass Vaccination Center in Europe.

Abstract

Introduction:

Covid-19 pandemic had a massive impact on the capabilities of the healthcare system. The development of the vaccines and the setup of the vaccination program of the general population required an important coordination and organizational work, from an already worn-out system.

The implementation of mass vaccination centers is known as the most efficient way of vaccinating rapidly and efficiently a large part of the population, but requires a non-negligible amount of resources. For Covid-19 vaccination, time sustainability was an important challenge to consider due to the timespan needed between boosters; unfortunately, most of the models presented up to 2020 are short duration systems.

A mass vaccination center (MVC) organizational model was proposed and staffed with only two health care workers on a daily basis, with a more than 10,000 shots a day capacity over a seven-month duration.

Method:

The MVC was under the supervision of one medical coordinator, one nurse coordinator and one operational coordinator. Students (both in health and non-health studies) were the most important part of the human resources. Data concerning the population vaccinated, the number and the type of vaccines used were routinely recorded.

Results:

From March 28 to October 20, 2021, 501,714 vaccines were administered at the MVC. A mean rate of 2951 ±1804 doses was injected per day with a staff of 180 ±95 persons working every day. The peak was reached with 10,095 injections in one day. The average time spent by a patient in the MVC was 43.2 ± 15 minutes. The average time to be vaccinated was 26 ±13 minutes.

Conclusion:

Provided with adequate supervision, an optimized organization and adequate training, the use of a student workforce allows for the implementation of a functional, efficient, and sustainable mass vaccination center.