This manual serves as a primary resource and a catalogue of optional tools to help users to decide, plan and implement maternal influenza vaccination strategies and to foresee and address potential challenges related to decision-making or implementation. The manual aims to guide countries by providing principles and considerations to support decision-making and introduction planning rather than prescribing introduction measures that may not be applicable in some country contexts. The manual focuses on the introduction of maternal influenza vaccination with inactivated seasonal influenza vaccine (subsequently referred to as “influenza vaccine”), and aims to:
inform discussions on policy and assist with decision-making processes for introduction of influenza vaccine compared to other health interventions;
provide an operational design framework for a delivery system for influenza vaccines for pregnant women;
provide suggestions for developing a service delivery plan, including using local/ regional influenza epidemiology and seasonality trends to guide vaccine provision, timing and strategies;
provide an overview of monitoring and evaluation considerations specific to maternal influenza vaccination.
In addition, this manual outlines:
how to integrate influenza vaccine into an existing antenatal care system, and
how to prepare the national immunization programme to expand its activities in order to target pregnant women.