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We are pleased to share the full webinar programme for World Immunization Week 2020 with you – you can access the event pages here: /newsevents/events/series/vaccine-centre or get an overview of the programme on the VaC website here: /newsevents/news/2020/world-immunization-week-2020  The programme poster is also attached.

We are marking WIW 2020 with the theme #VaccinesWorkforAll by looking at vaccines throughout the life course with an event each day of the week looking at vaccines important to a different age group/stage of life.

On day 1 Friday the 24th of April we look at vaccines in pregnancy with a joint webinar with the MARCH Centre focusing a Group B Streptococcus (GBS) vaccine. We are also joined by one of the directors of the leading GBS charity in the UK which provides information and support to families affected by GBS.

Day 2 on Monday the 27th of April we move onto vaccines in newborns with a focus on the Hepatitis B vaccine. We hear from researchers and clinicians working in African contexts including in the Gambia. This event will not be live, but a webinar recording will be streamed on the day.

On Day 3, Tuesday the 28th of April we have a live webinar on pneumococcal vaccines as part of the focus on vaccines in young children. Experts from LSHTM in London and MRC Unit the Gambia contribute to the event covering research on pneumococcal vaccine schedules, the need to understand pneumococcal transmission, recent modelling work and pneumococcal  phyogenetics.

On Day 4 Wednesday the 29th of April we focus on vaccines in adolescents looking at the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. Students from the STIRIG and VaC student groups present findings from their recent survey among their LSHTM student peers on HPV vaccination rates and knowledge.

The final day of the programme on Thursday the 30th of April  we look at vaccines in older adults mainly in the UK context. We are joined by both internal and external speakers who will discuss why vaccines are an important preventative tool for elderly populations and how we can address some of the challenges of reaching these groups.

Finally, given the strong interest in COVID-19 we end the week with a special event on COVID-19 and vaccines on Friday the 1^st of May. The event will look at progress towards a COVID-19 vaccine as well as the potential 'collateral' impacts of the pandemic on other vaccines and immunization programmes. LSHTM researchers will share findings that show what impact the pandemic could have on other infectious diseases where immunization programmes have been disrupted and we hear from LSHTM experts who have worked on vaccine development in other pandemic situations to hear lessons learned from these experiences.

The links to the live events are all accessible through the event pages. We hope you can join us please do get in touch with any questions.