30th Meeting of the Technical Advisory Group on Immunization and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases in the Western Pacific Region, Virtual meeting 22-25 June 2021: meeting report

Overview

The 30th Meeting of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on Immunization and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases in the Western Pacific Region was held virtually on 22–25 June 2021. The meeting was attended by seven TAG members, four temporary advisers, 51 participants from 21 countries and areas, 89 representatives from partner organizations and World Health Organization (WHO) staff from headquarters, the Regional Office and country offices.

The 30th TAG convened at a time when the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had been seriously affecting immunization programmes as well as disease elimination and eradication initiatives in the Western Pacific, including implementation of the Regional Strategic Framework for Vaccine-preventable Diseases and Immunization in the Western Pacific (2021–2030). Since mid-2020, Member States and WHO in the Region have been urgently taking innovative measures to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic. In addition, Member States and WHO in the Region have been planning and preparing for the deployment of and immunization with COVID-19 vaccines since October 2020. Several countries in the Region have been carrying out a vaccination response to COVID-19 since February 2021. The TAG meeting was held to support countries and areas in the Region to review these measures, as well as experiences and lessons learnt, and to identify and develop the TAG recommendations.