Romania’s National Institute of Public Health and the public health directorates of Brașov, Timiș and Covasna countries, in collaboration with the WHO Country Office in Romania, will host roundtable events to disseminate the findings and recommendations of a qualitative study on drivers of and barriers to vaccination. The events will take place in the communities where the study was conducted and where the solutions aimed at increasing vaccination uptake will be piloted.

The study identified key challenges to achieving high immunization uptake, including low health literacy among parents and caregivers as well as limited health-care provider capacity to communicate effectively about immunization and respond to vaccine-related misinformation. The roundtables aim to engage local stakeholders in taking recommendations forward and tailoring interventions to community contexts.

Expected outcomes include:

• sharing localized findings and actionable recommendations with stakeholders in participating counties;
• supporting community-level implementation efforts to overcome identified barriers; and
• strengthening local ownership and capacity to increase vaccination coverage.

Invited participants include:

• representatives of county public health authorities
• local health professionals and primary health-care providers
• community leaders, educators and local government representatives.

These in-person roundtables will be held in Romanian and will feature open dialogue and facilitated discussions to encourage collaboration for and the co-creation of practical solutions at the local level.