Diverse roles of Primary Health Care in COVID-19 vaccination across 28 European countries – Insights from the Eurodata study
Creators: name: Guisado-Clavero, Marina
name: Gómez-Bravo, Raquel
name: Larrondo, Ileana Gefaell
name: Del Rio, Lourdes Ramos
name: Fitzgerald, Louise
name: Vinker, Shlomo
name: Vaes, Bert
name: Tsigarovski, Georgi
name: Torzsa, Péter
name: Ticmane, Gunta
name: Sentker, Theresa
name: Serafini, Alice
name: Sattler, Martin
name: Streit, Sven
name: Petricek, Goranka
name: Petrazzuoli, Ferdinando
name: Petek, Davorina
name: Perjés, Ábel
name: Penakacherla, Nagu
name: Senn, Oliver
name: Neves, Ana Luisa
name: Nessler, Katarzyna
name: Murauskienė, Liubovė
name: Mossong, Jöel
name: Kozlovska, Liga
name: Segernäs, Anna
name: Krztoń-Królewiecka, Anna
name: Kostić, Milena
name: Üçüncü, Erva Kırkoç
name: Korkmaz, Büsra Çimen
name: Knežević, Snežana
name: Jandrić-Kočić, Marijana
name: Kastbom, Lisa
name: Shushman, Ivanna
name: Ilkov, Oxana
name: Hoffmann, Kathryn
name: Heleno, Bruno
name: Hanževački, Miroslav
name: Gjorgjievski, Dragan
name: Feldman, Sabine
name: Domeyer, Philippe-Richard
name: Peña, Maryher Delphin
name: Divjak, Asja Ćosić
name: Busneag, Iliana-Carmen
name: Brutskaya-Stempkovskaya, Elena
name: Bensemmane, Sherihane
name: Bayen, Sabine
name: Bakola, Maria
name: Adler, Limor
name: Assenova, Radost
name: Ares-Blanco, Sara
name: Astier-Peña, María Pilar
name: Lingner, Heidrun
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Molecular Biology
subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: Science Policy
subject: Infectious Diseases
subject: FOS: Health sciences
subject: Computational Biology

description: The COVID-19 vaccination campaign in several European countries involved collaboration between public health and Primary Health Care (PHC). To highlight the role of PHC professionals in the COVID-19 vaccination rollout, specifically in terms of vaccine administration, communication and contributing to vaccination population coverage. A descriptive retrospective study of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign across 28 European countries was conducted, covering data from December 2020 to November 2021. Data were collected by key informants recruited from each country, who were health professionals involved in their national vaccination campaigns. Utilising an ad-hoc semi-structured questionnaire, information was gathered on organisation, communication strategies, priority groups, vaccine types, and vaccination pathways in PHC. PHC participated in communication strategies in 10 out of 28 countries, and vaccination was voluntary in most of them. The priority groups for vaccination varied across Europe, and the availability of vaccines in PHC differed between countries within the European Union (EU) and non-EU countries. The BioNTech Pfizer vaccine was the most widely available vaccine in most countries, followed by Moderna and AstraZeneca. PHC administered COVID-19 vaccines to the population, being the nurses the most involved, followed by general practitioners. Vaccination appointments were available online in 18/28 or by phone in 15/28, direct appointments at health centres were available in 8/28. In several countries, healthcare professionals who administered vaccines were given extra compensation for their role. PHC professionals played a crucial role in the successful distribution and administration of COVID-19 vaccines in European countries. Primary Health Care (PHC) professionals, especially nurses and General Practitioners, played a pivotal role in the effective distribution and administration of COVID-19 vaccines in Europe. PHC participated in communication strategies in some countries. Disparities in vaccine availability and prioritisation groups were found across Europe.