Mobilizing emergency medical services for mass COVID-19 vaccine administration: The Israeli experience

• Published in: The American journal of emergency medicine Vol. 56; pp. 338 - 340
• Main Authors: Alpert, Evan Avraham, Lipsky, Ari M., Abramovich, Itamar, Jaffe, Eli
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.06.2022; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Boarding schools; Coronaviruses; COVID-19 - prevention & control; COVID-19 Vaccines; Diplomatic & consular services; Disease transmission; Emergency medical care; Emergency Medical Services; Health services; Humans; Israel; Israel - epidemiology; Long-term care; Manpower; Manual workers; Nursing homes; Older people; Pandemics; Paramedics; People with disabilities; Schools; Technicians; Vaccination; Vaccines; Vaccines, administration and dosage; Vulnerable populations; Israel; Vaccines, administration and dosage; Israel; Vulnerable populations; Emergency medical services
• ISSN: 0735-6757; 1532-8171
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ajem.2021.09.016

Manpower: Paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) were prepared to perform the vaccinations via a mandatory training session, including two hours of virtual didactics and additional hands-on practice. Additional groups that were vaccinated included factory workers (21,353 doses), boarding school students (3235 doses), and an additional small group of citizens (3441 doses) many of whom received their vaccine at MDA stations (See Fig. 1 and Table 1). The elderly (especially those in long-term care facilities), prisoners, Palestinian laborers, youth in boarding schools, factory workers and citizens living in outlying areas, and diplomats and their families were included in the MDA vaccination campaign because of their increased risk of severe disease, their increased risk of transmitting the disease, and/or their decreased access to standard clinic-based vaccination efforts in Israel.