More than 4,000 nurses throughout Georgia will benefit from the COVID-19 information sessions organized by UNICEF in partnership with the Nursing Association Numane. The initiative includes face-to-face training sessions in 65 clinics in eight regions of the country and aims to build confidence in COVID-19 vaccines among nurses and other medical personnel by mainstreaming evidence-based information and enhancing awareness about the benefits of vaccination.

“It is crucial that the medical staff - nurses, environment managers, and cleaners working in medical clinics - are protected from the virus. Being frontline workers, dealing with hospital patients, they have the most frequent contact with the population that is most at risk of COVID-19 complications. Following the vaccination campaign for teachers, UNICEF is now launching a similar platform for the medical workers to make sure that they benefit from the vaccines - this greatest achievement in global health and development”, - said Ghassan Khalil, UNICEF Representative in Georgia.

Topics for the trainings will include the history of the vaccine (its development, production, and authorization processes), common side effects of vaccinations (including COVID-19 vaccines), statistical information on COVID-19 vaccination, and disease incidence and prevalence across the globe and in Georgia. The sessions will also cover the national protocols on COVID-19 in children and priority groups for vaccination among children, as well as COVID-19 vaccination in patients with respiratory system diseases, allergic diseases, those with oncology and autoimmune pathology, and with cardiovascular system diseases.

The preparation for those conducting the trainings - the 12 selected master trainer nurses – will be carried out by prominent medical experts, including Professor Ivane Chkhaidze, Chair of the Pediatric Department at Tbilisi State Medical University and Chair of the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group; Bidzina Kulumbegov, Medical Doctor at the Centre of Allergy and Immunology; Zviad Kipiani, Head of the Cardiology Department and President of the Georgian Heart Failure Association; and Khatuna Zakhashvili, Head of the Department of Communicable Diseases of the National Centre for Disease Control and Public Health.

In the coming six months, the master trainers will then organize training sessions with nurses, environment managers, and cleaners in the selected regional clinics, organizing group vaccination of the meeting participants in the selected locations across the country under the supportive supervision of the medical experts.