General Vaccination and Active Prevention of COVID-19 Epidemic at the Primary Health Care Level: The Fifth Step of the National Mobilization Program against COVID-19

One of the most effective ways to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is to perform general vaccination and actively prevent the outbreak at the primary health care level. The present study aimed to review the measures against COVID-19 in Iran from April to September 2021.

A cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted at the national level from April to September 2021. Data related to COVID-19 vaccination, prevention, care, and outpatient services was collected from databases, including first level electronic health record systems, the portal of Network Management Center, the portal of Infectious Diseases Management Center, and the portal of Health Observatory. The target population of the study included medical universities and schools in Iran. Using a census sampling method, all 63 medical universities and schools in the country were included in the study. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16 was utilized to analyze the collected data.

In the fifth step of the national mobilization program against COVID-19 epidemic, a total of 1,228 vaccination centers with 6,490 stations were established across the country from April to September 2021. In these centers, more than 47 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines were injected. At this step, over 15 million people exposed to close contact with infected people were intercepted. A home care team was deployed at each selected health center for COVID-19, providing 532,551 home care services. At the fifth step, the monitoring teams issued 1,015,831 warnings to trading, industrial, or administrative units, which led to the sealing of 73,443 units. Also, more than six million rapid tests were performed in homes and health units. During the same period, 30,843 vulnerable households received support packages.

The national mobilization program to combat COVID-19 in Iran focused on the community and primary health care system. The program was successful in strengthening the health system to expand vaccination and actively prevent COVID-19 epidemic.