VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT - CONSULTANT
WHO Rwanda in Collaboration with Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC) is inviting applicants from suitable qualified Rwandan Nationals to fill the following Consultancy:
Title: Senior consultant to support design and implementation COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness study
Duty Station:Kigali
Date issue: 07/12/2022
Deadline: 20/12/2022
1.Background
COVID-19 was first identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019. The World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January 2020 and a pandemic on 11 March 2020. Rwanda confirmed the first case on 14 March 2020, and subsequent prevention measures including travel and mass gathering restriction, lockdowns, physical distancing, mask wearing, and hand washing were instituted. As the number of COVID-19 cases continued to raise despite the installation of prevention measures, WHO launched the Blueprint on vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics for the development and distribution of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics.
Through COVAX, AVAT, and bilateral initiatives, Rwanda accessed to more than twenty million vaccine doses, and six types of vaccines including Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Sinopharma, Johnson and Johnson, and Sputnik were utilized through countrywide campaigns. As of 25 September 2022, 70.3% and 68.6% of the total population has received one and two doses respectively while 42.6% received a booster dose. These represent 101.2%, 98.8%, and 61.4% of the target population which received the first, second and booster dose respectively.
2.Justification
Although the population continues to receive vaccines and the number of infected continue to decrease dramatically, no study has been conducted to evaluate the real effectiveness and impact of administered vaccines in Rwanda. We believe that assessing the immune response through evaluating the level of infection risk reduction or disease among vaccinated individuals attributed to vaccination in real-world conditions following mass vaccination will be helpful to address gaps in evidence of vaccine efficacy. The findings from the vaccine effectiveness evaluation will guide regulatory and policy decisions on future COVID-19 vaccinations.
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3.Purpose of the assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to evaluate the COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness in Rwanda population.
Moreover, the below specific objectives will be considered:
- Evaluate real-world performance of COVID-19 vaccines administered in Rwanda since the launch of COVID-19 vaccination
- Contribute to information generation for addressing gaps in evidence of vaccine efficacy from clinical trials
- Provide updated information to regulatory and policy making bodies for decision
4.Organizational context
The consultant will work under the supervision of the WHO EPI Focal Point in collaboration with Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC). The day-to-day supervision will be ensured RBC/Division of Research, Innovation and Data Science, in collaboration with WHO
5.Work assignment
The consultant will be responsible for designing and implementation the COVID-19 vaccines effectiveness study. In collaboration with WHO and RBC, the consultant will be tasked to:
- Design vaccine effectiveness study protocol and data collection tools
- Facilitate the process of protocol review by National Ethic Committee and the acquisition of ethical clearance
- Facilitate training of data collectors
- Organize and supervise data collection and analysis
- Produce the preliminary vaccine effectiveness study report
- Organize and facilitate meeting to present the preliminary findings
- Elaborate the final report and facilitate the dissemination workshop as required
6.Deliverables
The consultant is requested to deliver the following:
- Submission of inception report which include the methodology and implementation timelines
- Study protocol, data collection tools developed and validated
- Compilation, analysis of data, and submission of preliminary reports for review
- Submission of final reports
The above-mentioned deliverables shall be produced over two months
Qualifications of the consultant
Education:
- Advanced University degree (Masters level or above) in Medicine, Public Health or Epidemiology
1.Background
COVID-19 was first identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019. The World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January 2020 and a pandemic on 11 March 2020. Rwanda confirmed the first case on 14 March 2020, and subsequent prevention measures including travel and mass gathering restriction, lockdowns, physical distancing, mask wearing, and hand washing were instituted. As the number of COVID-19 cases continued to raise despite the installation of prevention measures, WHO launched the Blueprint on vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics for the development and distribution of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics.
Through COVAX, AVAT, and bilateral initiatives, Rwanda accessed to more than twenty million vaccine doses, and six types of vaccines including Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Sinopharma, Johnson and Johnson, and Sputnik were utilized through countrywide campaigns. As of 25 September 2022, 70.3% and 68.6% of the total population has received one and two doses respectively while 42.6% received a booster dose. These represent 101.2%, 98.8%, and 61.4% of the target population which received the first, second and booster dose respectively.
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Learn more about World Health Organization(WHO)
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2.Justification
Although the population continues to receive vaccines and the number of infected continue to decrease dramatically, no study has been conducted to evaluate the real effectiveness and impact of administered vaccines in Rwanda. We believe that assessing the immune response through evaluating the level of infection risk reduction or disease among vaccinated individuals attributed to vaccination in real-world conditions following mass vaccination will be helpful to address gaps in evidence of vaccine efficacy. The findings from the vaccine effectiveness evaluation will guide regulatory and policy decisions on future COVID-19 vaccinations.
3.Purpose of the COVID-19 Effectiveness study
The purpose of this assignment is to evaluate the COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness in Rwanda population.
Moreover, the below specific objectives will be considered:
- Evaluate real-world performance of COVID-19 vaccines administered in Rwanda since the launch of COVID-19 vaccination
- Contribute to information generation for addressing gaps in evidence of vaccine efficacy from clinical trials
- Provide updated information to regulatory and policy making bodies for decision
4.Organizational context
The consultant will work under the supervision of the WHO EPI Focal Point in collaboration with Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) and the consultant coordinating VE study. The day-to-day supervision will be ensured RBC/ Research, Innovation and Data Science Division, in collaboration with WHO
5.Work assignment
The consultant will be responsible for designing and implementation the COVID-19 vaccines effectiveness study. In collaboration with WHO and RBC, the consultant will be tasked to:
- Support the development of data collection and management tools
- Ensure data quality check during data collection
- Facilitate training of data collectors
- Organize and supervise data collection
- Ensure data cleaning, analysis and displaying for findings presentation and report writing
- Support the study coordinator to draft preliminary and final study report
- Facilitate results dissemination workshop
6.Deliverables
The consultant is requested to deliver the following:
- Submission of inception report which include the methodology, data management plan and implementation timelines
- Data collection and management tools developed and validated
- Compilation, cleaning, and analysis of data
- Submission of final reports
The above-mentioned deliverables shall be produced over two months
7.Qualifications of the consultant
- Education:
Postgraduate university degree in Biostatistics or Epidemiology
- Experience:
- Demonstrated experience of five years and above working in data management including data collection, cleaning, analysis, and data displaying
- Proficiency in statistics and statistical packages for data set analysis
- Skills
- Teamwork
- How to apply
Interested candidates shall submit their CVs by email to
- Selection and contract signing
After analysis of CVs, WHO Rwanda will notify the selected candidate in writing and call for discussion followed by contract signing if fully agree. The work is expected to start immediately after contract signing.
Done at Kigali, 07th December 2022
Dr Brian CHIROMBO
WHO Representative