COVID-19 Pandemic Prioritized Global Action Plan for Enhanced Engagement (GAP)

As the world continues to grapple with COVID-19’s far-reaching impacts, there remains an urgent need for enhanced political engagement and coordination to end the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The COVID-19 Pandemic Prioritized Global Action Plan for Enhanced Engagement (“GAP”) builds on current global COVID-19 response activities and commitments made at events such as the Global COVID-19 Summits to bring together partners who can commit political will, leadership, and resources to help address acute needs strengthen readiness from a across geographical and/or sectoral perspectives, or both.

Overarching Goal of the GAP

Enhance international coordination to end the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthen readiness for future pandemic threats.

Six Core Lines of Effort for International Coordination

1. Get Shots in Arms – Ensure vaccine doses turn into vaccinations around the world.
2. Bolster Supply Chain Resilience – Facilitate sufficient, steady supplies of critical inputs, products, and materials.
3. Address Information Gaps – Address information barriers and gaps to increase vaccine and therapeutic uptake.
4. Support Health Workers – Support the health, safety, wellbeing, and effectiveness of frontline health workers.
5. Ensure Acute Non-Vaccine Interventions (Test and Treat) – Ensure availability of non-vaccine, life-saving interventions where treatments and testing are needed most.
6. Strengthen Global Health Security Architecture – Advance immediate and long-term reforms and governance that will bolster the current pandemic response as well as future global health security and pandemic preparedness.

Outline for Enhanced Engagement and Coordination on the COVID-19 Pandemic Global Action Plan

Core Areas of Focus for Coordination Through End of 2022

1. Get Shots in Arms – Ensure safe and effective vaccines turn into vaccinations.
   1. Coordinate global vaccine supply
      1. Deliver supplies primarily through COVAX, with sufficient advance time and dose longevity to allow for proper planning by recipients.
   2. Improve Readiness and Support Administration (last mile, logistics, operations, vaccination campaigns)
      1. Identify readiness needs and gaps, and map key partners to areas in need.
   3. Support access to vaccines in conflict zones and other humanitarian settings
      1. Promote sufficient funding, vaccines, and supplies, and enable organizations to support integrated vaccination delivery to populations of concern.
2. Bolster Supply Chain Resilience – Facilitate sufficient, steady supplies of all critical products and materials related to breaking the cycle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
   1. Resolve immediate production gaps
      1. Establish a mechanism to match suppliers and potential producers.
   2. Increase resiliency, adaptability, and diversification to mitigate impact of future crisis scenarios 
      1. Provide support to sustain diversified production.
   3. Identify and establish surge capacity requirements 
      1. Determine needs and mechanisms to handle surge demand.
   4. Identify and mitigate emerging bottlenecks 
      1. Establish an early warning system for problems with critical products and inputs.
      2. Develop a process to take action on identified problems to minimize disruptions.
3. Address Information Gaps – Address information barriers and gaps to increase vaccine uptake.
   1. Counter misinformation:
      1. Identify misinformation and use evidence-based methods to combat the spread of false information.
   2. Counter disinformation:
      1. Counter the intentional state-led dissemination of false information for political gain.
   3. Increase vaccine confidence and uptake:
      1. Provide accurate, clear, effective messaging about vaccine efficacy and safety.
4. Support and Protect Health Workers (HCW)– Support health, safety, wellbeing of frontline health workers.
   1. Improve health, safety, and well-being of HCWs
      1. Support health workers, including ensuring access to sufficient and quality personal protective equipment and vaccinations
   2. Support training and education
      1. Increase specialized appropriate training, including for immunization, treatment, infection prevention and control, contact tracing, field epidemiology, and surveillance.
5. Facilitate Acute Non-Vaccine Interventions (Test and Treat) – Ensure availability of non-vaccine, life-saving interventions (testing, therapeutics, oxygen) where needed most.
   1. Improve global testing regimes
      1. Increase testing and improve testing regimes, including scaling up the production and use of rapid diagnostic tests and self-testing.
   2. Improve equitable access to life-saving therapeutics
      1. Explore mechanisms to create an enabling environment for equitable access.
   3. Improve access to other effective non-vaccine interventions
6. Strengthen Global Health Security Architecture – Advance immediate and long-term reforms and governance that will impact the current pandemic response today as well as future global health security and pandemic preparedness.
   1. Support international and regional organizations
   2. Establish new elements in the global health security architecture