Vaccines Administration in the Perspective of Patient Safety and Quality of Healthcare: Lesson from the Experience of an Italian Teaching Hospital for Pandemic Preparedness

Abstract

The development and administration of vaccines against COVID-19 was a key element in the fight against the pandemic, as it protected health systems and helped restore global economies. National implementation plans and vaccination strategies for COVID-19 vaccines ensured the immunization of large segments of the population in the shortest time. However, even before the start of the vaccination campaign, it was clear to decision-makers that the usual methods of vaccination were not suitable. The aim of this report is to share the experience of an Italian teaching hospital in the organisation of spaces and activities of healthcare workers to realise a safe vaccination campaign. An in-depth analysis of how the vaccination campaign was organised could be useful to understand strengths and weaknesses learnt from this experience and plan an effective, efficient, and resilient response to future pandemics right away. The adoption of a systemic clinical risk management (SCRM) could guarantee healthcare organizations a more adequate and resilient response in an ethics of a job well done perspective, allowing them to maintain high patient safety standards regardless of the contingent situation for which safety first should be the motto of a disaster response plan.

Keywords: COVID-19 vaccination; clinical governance; healthcare quality; healthcare risk management; hospital-based vaccination; immunization center.

Figure 1

Vaccination Center (VC) map.