Vaccine hesitancy has grown in part due to scepticisms surrounding the rapidity in which the Covid-19 vaccine development was fast-tracked globally. The concern in this case is not just on its safety and efficacy but also towards public health institutions and pharmaceutical companies. While the rapid development has had extraordinary achievements, challenges remain in the production, distribution, deployment and importantly acceptance.

Some of the challenges we found from our discussions surrounding vaccine hesitancy was lack of trust in the quality, safety and efficacy element; vaccine purity, ingredients, clinical trials & testing, approval and monitoring and scientific evaluation processes that were put in place by both developers and the regulatory bodies / authorities such as the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and other regulators in the EU / EEA countries.

That said, the webinar offered the opportunity for health practitioners to explain in some details vaccine discovery processes; the safety, efficacy and quality assurance elements, plus monitoring of side-effects, as well as the rigorous processes during manufacturing – development, evaluation, approval and monitoring – pharmaceutical regulations within the EU, USA and WHO.