At The World Vaccine Congress in Washington we were thrilled to meet Economist Impact’s Miranda Baxa for a conversation about the work she and her team are doing around the Vaccine Ecosystem. Miranda is a Consultant with Economist Impact and the Research Director for The Immunisation Readiness Index, which we learn more about in our interview! It was great to meet Miranda and learn more about the significance of Economist Impact’s efforts; we hope you enjoy the interview.
Sustainability and resilience
Miranda joined us at the event for a session in the market access track: “Creating a sustainable vaccine ecosystem: successes, gaps, and opportunities”. We therefore asked her about the meaning of the term “sustainable” in this context; what is Economist Impact seeking here?Miranda suggests that there are “two pieces”:
“The first is to ensure that the systems have a sufficient foundation, so that we can support immunisation not just today, but also into the future. But the second piece is really ensuring that the systems are also resilient to outside shocks.”
This applies to immunisation programmes and industry efforts in the face of something like COVID-19. For example, COVID-19 revealed “a lot of weaknesses” in the routine immunisation programmes. To pursue vaccine sustainability, Economist Impact has created a “benchmarking exercise”: The Immunisation Readiness Index.
The Index explained
Our next question invited Miranda to explain a bit about the Index and its implications for the vaccine community.
“The Immunisation Readiness Index is a measure of country-level readiness to harness the full potential of vaccines.”
This draws on assessments of policy and process for both routine and emergency immunisation efforts. Economist Impact states that it incorporates 50 indicators over 6 domains.
Stakeholder engagement
With the importance of the Index in mind, we asked Miranda how Economist Impact is encouraging engagement or responses. She highlights the importance of stakeholder engagement, from conversations like this one at the Congress, to “speaking directly with key stakeholders within the ecosystem”. This engages organisations such as CEPI, Gavi, or IVI. Additionally, the team takes the information “straight to the source”, addressing country-level stakeholders and presenting their findings. This enables key decision makers to “identify where those opportunities lie”.
Why WVC?
As always, our interviews conclude with a question about the event. Miranda reflects that her team is “really looking forward to stakeholder engagement”.
“Speaking with people, experts from across the vaccine ecosystem, and seeing what’s being done, the innovations and the actions that will take place into the future to really support immunisation and make some meaningful change.”
It was fantastic to hear these insights from Miranda; don’t forget to check out the Vaccine Ecosystem here and the Index here for more information!
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