The selected evaluation report focuses on the performance of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) vaccine allocation program in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to vaccinate American citizens. This paper will therefore closely analyze the evaluation of the program, focusing on the outcomes of the program, and the methods used in its evaluation. The paper will also consider the advantages and unintended limitations of the program, in addition to how successful it was in meeting the intended objectives. The potential role of the nurse advocate in the program evaluation will also be highlighted.
Analyzing the CDC Vaccine Allocation Program Evaluation
The performance of the CDC vaccine allocation program during the COVID-19 experience depicted some vital observables, which should be used to better extend such planning strategy in the future. The program led to an impressive level of success in terms of vaccine coverage. Nonetheless, it lags behind the expectations of other available allocation strategies in terms of optimality. On the other hand, the CDC strategy seems to succeed in emphasizing some demographic groups such as healthcare workers as well as people with other issues (Islam et al., 2021). Evaluation applied multiple parameters crucial to the COVID-19 pandemic, including age-related infectious susceptibility, clinical fraction, degree of social distancing, and infection rate, respectively. As such, this systemic modeling gave way to a detailed awareness of how various allocation strategies could lead to the improvement or worsening of key indicators like mortality rate, case numbers, infection rates, and years of life lost (YLL) (Bertsimas et al., 2020). The evaluation also drew on a range of reliable sources like epidemiological surveys, healthcare statistics, and demographic data.
The primary stakeholders used to conduct the process included professionals and experts, including, for instance, public health officers, epidemiologists, policymakers, healthcare workers, and researchers (Islam et al., 2021). This evaluation is beneficial in the sense that the empirical findings of the evaluation will contribute to the decision process of the CDC and can help refine and adjust the vaccine allocation strategies to apply them more effectively during future pandemics and vaccine distribution in the country (Weintraub et al., 2021). Although the CDC plan appeared to be effective regarding vaccination goals accomplishment, on the other side, improvements to that strategy are evident. The outcome of evaluations informs the CDC about the need for continuing improvement and adjustments of policies and behavior to enhance the equity of immunization access for all populations. (Islam et al., 2021). In line with the thoughts of Stamps et al. (2021), as a nurse advocate, I would be involved in the process of evaluating the current vaccine allocation strategy as well as suggest needed adjustments, if any. I would also work closely with the stakeholders who are responsible for ensuring fair access to vaccines, especially in underserved communities (Myers, 2020).
Conclusion
The CDC allocation strategy had its flaws; however, this strategy was very helpful and it achieved the set targets and goals. Evaluation report results recommend that CDC strategy improvement and revisions are critical to ensure the high effectiveness of future vaccination processes or pandemic activities.
References
Bertsimas, D., Ivanhoe, J., Jacquillat, A., Li, M., Previero, A., Lami, O. S., & Bouardi, H. T. (2020). Optimizing vaccine allocation to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. MedRxiv, 2020-11.
Islam, M. R., Oraby, T., McCombs, A., Chowdhury, M. M., Al-Mamun, M., Tyshenko, M. G., & Kadelka, C. (2021). Evaluation of the United States COVID-19 vaccine allocation strategy. PloS One, 16(11), e0259700. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0259700
Myers, C. R. (2020). Promoting population health: Nurse advocacy, policy making, and use of media. Nursing Clinics, 55(1), 11-20.
Stamps, D. C., Foley, S. M., Gales, J., Lovetro, C., Alley, R., Opett, K., & Faggiano, S. (2021). Nurse leaders advocate for nurses across a health care system: COVID-19. Nurse Leader, 19(2), 159-164.
Weintraub, R. L., Subramanian, L., Karlage, A., Ahmad, I., & Rosenberg, J. (2021). COVID-19 Vaccine To Vaccination: Why Leaders Must Invest In Delivery Strategies Now: Analysis describes lessons learned from past pandemics and vaccine campaigns about the path to successful vaccine delivery for COVID-19. Health Affairs, 40(1), 33-41.
write